The Essence

Music and Sexism (1)

2011-10-08T17:51:00.007+01:00

There's a lot of talk about sexism in music. To be honest I don't work in music, so I have no idea if Lady Gaga was wearing a meat dress to be provocative or because her manager told her she needed to make sure a certain percentage of her skin was on show at all times and that was the dress that fitted those requirements. Either way I'm sure the bottom line was about sales. It seems nowadays you sell music through sex, through controversy, or, preferably, both.

People aren’t just judged on their talent anymore, because they have to sell magazine covers, posters, and films as well and who wants to look at someone ugly? Sure there are the ‘real’ girls, but are you telling me that all girls with real curves look like Beyonce? Or that Adele’s isn’t stunning in her own right? (And not in a ‘oh I’m a woman of course I think she’s nice’ way, I mean in a ‘I spent so long staring at your eyes in the first Rolling in the Deep video I didn’t actually hear any of the song’ way). Because let’s be honest, music is akin to Hollywood and there are no ugly girls in Hollywood. If you look average (or worse) you aren’t going to get a pop record deal, end of.

Let’s just say there are three kinds of girls – there’s the bog basic, hot and sexy; the Beyonces (cos I’m sorry ‘real curves’ or not Beyonce is absolutely stunning and there is no way in hell she represents the average girl with legs like those). Next you have the ‘real’ girls, who shall now be known as ‘Adeles’. And, finally there is the relatively new phenomenon of ‘perhaps only average looking but deliberately (and often sexually) provocative and perfectly OK with flashing most of their skin at once’; the Gagas. Now we can at once start fitting girls into these categories. Rihanna= Beyonce, Beth Ditto = Adele, Nicki Minaj = Gaga, Brittney = Beyonce etc. Blah blah blah. Look, I’m not the first person to say this and I won’t be the last. What really interests me is the guys.

Let’s be honest, if Justin Bieber had bad hair and acne he would not be half as popular as he is. Ditto One Direction, or any other pop sensation currently taking over the Trending Topics. In fact I would argue a guy has no more chance of being successful in pop if he can’t be an appropriate poster boy than any of the girls do. Just because your posters are trying to cater for teenage girls instead of middle aged men shouldn’t make them any less degrading, it doesn't change the direction of the photographers.

In fact it’s possibly even worse for the guys because in general they aren’t even allowed to fight this path on their own. They have to be part of boy bands and effectively COMPETE for the attention with their co-stars. If another guy is sexier maybe they can try and play the ‘bad guy’ or ‘the cute one’. And if they don’t fulfil this role adequately then I’m sure there are other guys out there who can hold a mic, look hot and dance at the same time. Being in a group makes you more easily replaceable, and yet given the current female domination of the market, being in a group for a guy is also the greatest chance you have of becoming a pop star, so you’re really going to have to fight if you want to stay there. Or learn to rap.

But then the rappers aren’t coming off that lightly. They too have to look after their appearance. Sure rappers brag about how they can now afford the personal trainers to get them looking buff, or the posh suits to make them look smart, or the chains to make them look cool. But it can’t be true that all of them want to dress like that (just like it can’t be true all the girls supposedly hate dressing slutty) or that they all want to spend 4 hours a day in the gym. Their image is as much defined by media stereotypes as that of the girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were stories on Plan B’s new ‘svelte’ figure just before his next album drops or perhaps something about Ed Sheeran smartening up for the next movie première.

Except maybe I would be surprised because although the gossip magazines talk about it, the expectation for men to look good seems to be a lot more hidden. There’s lots of talk about how ‘it’s so easy for men’ or how men are allowed to get old gracefully but it can’t be so easy for everyone. Perhaps it’s not two hours in the gym every morning, two hours for hair and make-up and an hour of carefully considered little black dress selection just for a five minute TV appearance, but maybe it’s 3 hours in the gym every morning, a 30 minute carefully considered anti-acne facial regime, a trip to the barber’s and an hour of carefully considered pink shirt selection so that you fit on the right side of metro sexual but not too close to ‘gay’. (And let’s not even get started on the rules for gays and gender undefined people in music. Just read this if you want to know more.)

Now like I said at the start – I don’t work in music. I’m also not a guy. So I don’t really know what happens as far as male sexism in music is concerned. But I can’t help but think that something isn’t right when two legitimate music headlines are allowed to be ‘Adele cancels US tour’ and ‘Tupac sex tape leak’. Given that any ‘music’ headlines should be about the music.

What’s more, let’s go back to that third group of girls; the Gagas. I’m one of those people who doesn’t actually think Gaga is attractive (either in a sexy way or a girly ‘nice’ way) but let’s be honest; she’s found a way to break the pop sexism barrier IN SPITE of this. Just to be so over the top no one actually cares what you look like, they care what everyday object you’re employing to not entirely cover up your skin this time. And it’s something other girls are copying too. (Check this article on Before Gaga and After Gaga for more.)

This gives us an interesting dilemma; if the girls can just dress crazy to escape the sexism (and what’s more – it is actually this that is expected of them at the minute, and whether it involves copious flesh flashing or not seems to be optional) then where does that leave those people who think pop sexism is harder for girls than guys? There doesn’t seem to be the same get-out-of-jail-free card out there for them at the minute.

I’m not trying to say that guys have it worse than girls in music. I’m also not trying to say girls are not subjected to sexism in pop and that there is no longer a requirement to be attractive in order to be successful. All I’m trying to say is that perhaps the situation is changing, and that much as the stereotypes of what is ‘sexy’ or ‘cool’ change, then perhaps it might be time to update your stereotype of what is sexism in music and what is choice. Just a thought.

A letter to Moombahton

2011-10-01T18:51:00.002+01:00

Dear Moombahton

When we first met all those months ago I was so naive. You seemed to be everything I wanted in a genre, you had all the best bits from all those other genres I've fallen in love with and you used them so well! The way you mixed Latin and Reggaeton influences, the way you seemed to be effortlessly cool and endlessly upbeat - I loved it all.

I still remember the first time we met (on the Brodinski introduction to Moombahton mixtape) and I knew from that first drum sound that this was real love. You brightened a cold, dreary March and made me feel like we could live in an endless summer!

Since then I've followed you everywhere (although mainly on twitter). I've brought you into my bedroom, just to blast you from the speakers 12 hours a day. I was even ready to try and introduce you to my family, see if they liked you as much as I did. But I see now that I was wrong, you are not the Moombahton I met at the start.

It seems as though your Latin side was just a pretence, a trick to draw in the ladies and make them swoon only to have them find out that underneath you're not Latin at all, your just the American cousin of Dubstep pretending to be Latino. All those 'whomp whomp' sound effects aren't so cool when you're just copying someone else.

And I know it's hard to go out on the streets, to believe in yourself, make your mark, but just because it's hard at first doesn't mean you have to go copy all the other guys, the 'tough' guys, the guys who rule all the dancefloors. You can get there too - you just have to be patient! Except now everyone just sees you like Dubstep's little brother, acting like you're different but secretly desperate to be just as good. I liked you more when you were arrogant enough to think any song would be better just to have tasted you. Now that era is just a trail of abandoned remixes.

But it's ok - I understand, this is what happens to a genre when it starts to meet the masses. It has to adapt, bend to fit in, stop carving a niche and start to put itself in all the holes already carved for you. I mean look at when everyone's favourite next big indie band start to go too 'pop'.

And yes I know, like the indie bands, this isn't all your fault and it isn't the same for everyone. In fact that friend of yours, Moombahsoul, seems to be doing pretty well at the minute and, you know, she's kinda cute.

I guess what I'm saying is that we need to take look at our relationship. I don't think I'm getting out of it what I wanted and that upsets me, but I understand you want the chance to follow the path your on - who doesn't want to be successful? So I'm gonna go mess around with your friends a bit, and maybe I'll come back in a few months or so? Although if you still haven't changed, it might be over for us.

I hope you understand - but really it's not me, it's you.

Yours

Lucy

Azealia Banks

2011-09-27T19:25:00.003+01:00

Ok so today on twitter there was a post from Annie Mac (@anniemacdj);

RT @henryholland I want to be Azealia Banks. (co-sign)

Now obviously, being an inquisitive person I decided to do a quick google search and came across her soundcloud. I put it on and carried on with my stuff. I stopped in my tracks. Literally stopped, just to listen.

Let me get this straight, I listen to a lot of music, not all of it is good but, to me at least, most of it is pretty damn alright. But it's generally background noise for whatever else I'm doing (like reading twitter, cooking, [not] writing essays) 'cos I'm kinda silence-phobic. Unless I'm at work, in a lecture or asleep, I'm listening to music. Exams drive me crazy purely 'cos of the silence. But more often than not the music is just playing. I'm listening but not really taking it in, so when the occasional song catches my ear - I notice. And '212' got me. REALLY got me.

I mean I was just staring at the wall listening. I was ready to write a blog post then and there about my new favourite band; the music, the (inevitable?) comparisons with M.I.A., if anyone will join my sweepstakes for how long it takes the media to generally (as a collective) spell her name correctly. . .and then I kinda got a bit non-plussed again so I didn't.

But '212' really got me. I played it again and suddenly I worked it out. You know what it was? What stopped me in my tracks? It was the word 'cunt'. Said repeatedly. By a girl. And I think that might be it.

The song's good - but swearing still pricks up your ears more. I mean what does this say? It's not like I don't hear swearing in songs, and I genuinely used to get swearing lessons from my dad. In fact my brother and dad use 'cunt' as a term of endearment. But still. . .surely we live in a world where a girl saying cunt doesn't stop you in your tracks? Isn't there feminism and stuff?

Basically that's it. I have no explanation - it's just something that bugged me. Swearing should never be bigger than the music. But I'm gonna go play it again now. Fuck it.

Kreayshawn

2011-06-01T22:29:00.004+01:00

I swear to god I've tried to keep my mouth shut. Nobody wants a rant. But the girl got signed to SONY and I just have to do this.

First watch this. Provided you haven't already.

I know exactly how many times I have watched this (3). I also know that I have spent most of the time since unable to get the hook out of my head. (Including a particularly horrible 6 hour shift at work.)

This is a good thing I hear you argue. It means it is catchy. This is what Sony are looking for. That's fine. I have no problem with that. Just like I have no real problems with the song. Except one. What is this hook that plagues me? (Ok 'plagued' is perhaps OTT)

Some of you will say 'Gucci Gucci Louis Louis Fendi Fendi Prada', some of you will say 'One big room, full of bad bitches'. THIS IS MY PROBLEM. THERE ARE TWO HOOKS.

What's my problem? That's a good thing, you say.

THEY SOUND LIKE THEY ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT SONGS THAT HAVE BEEN CARELESSLY HASHED TOGETHER. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

One catchy hook is good, two is excellent, but the song still has to make sense. I get the really tenuous link between the two (Perhaps all the bad bitches are wearing Gucci!?) but then the verses are all bragging (which is what hiphop is and its awesome at it, this is not my complaint). It doesn't fit.

There's a producer somewhere deep inside me. Granted it is not a very good one, nor has it ever seen the light of day, but all it wants to do is separate these two hooks into two songs. The girl's good, if she's signed to Sony she must have enough rhymes to write two separate songs, so why has she released one that sounds like it was two demos smashed together? The two hooks even sound uncomfortable layered over the top of each other. Its clumsy.

All I want is two separate songs. I think both of them would be awesome. I would listen to them until my ears couldn't take it anymore. I just don't want them pushed together. It's not much to ask, is it?

UPDATE; As if to prove my point I just found this. (Skip to 2.07.)

Do not push songs together. However great you think your hooks are. Let them live separate lives. (Or at least don't expect me to not notice. Bitch. :P)

Those Dancing Days

2011-05-16T23:59:00.003+01:00

For some reason I decided to try the whole 'being a good student' thing this semester. It's going alright I guess. Boring though. Anyway it means Those Dancing Days last week was my first gig of the year. (I know!) Plus it means I actually printed off work to do on the train there and back. I'll be honest - it felt wrong.

Anyway short of the work, and getting lost and the man in me not asking for directions, and then getting half-sneaked in 'cos I didn't have a ticket - I had a great time. I feel at this point we should make one thing clear; a lot of the reviews/tweets I've read (3) seem to talk about the noticeable screaming. I'm pretty sure this wasn't just me. However I do remind you this was my first gig of the year (I KNOW!)

It started well*. Reaching Forward, album opener. Amazing. Then into I'll Be Yours. (I should explain at this point that most of my friends seem to assume I have no emotions, to the extent that when I get all wide-eyed about Slow Loris' with Cocktail Umbrellas they tell me off because it scares them.) Anyway I'm not a slushy song sort of person yet this song has somehow become so loved by me it's my ringtone. I was actually a little bit overwhelmed to hear it so early in the set. There was a moment in verse two when Cissi got all super-time on the drums and everyone looked over at her like they were annoyed they now had to play fast too. I kinda hope it was intentional. I like in-jokes (not that it was an in-joke involving me. I think I would actually have a restraining order if it'd got that far).

The set carried on mirroring the 2nd album track list pretty closely, minus 'Fuckarias' and including a few album one tunes. It was fun. It was dancy, it was well played, it was very very enjoyable. At some point I text my best friend the words 'TDD much hotter IRL' and then ranked them. I'm not proud of this, but that's how caught up in the moment I was. It also explains why I proposed on twitter the next day. (Not a stalker. Honest.)

Set closer was amazing. Ok it was a little bit pretentious. The whole 'I'm finished so I'm going to put my instrument down and walk off, then in four bars time someone else can do the same, until it's just the guitar loop feeding back of the speakers left'. I'm intrigued to see how this translates to festivals where you DON'T GET AN ENCORE. I mean have TDD even thought about this? Speaking of which, Fuckarias obviously made it's appearance during the encore. Having been really good until this point, I decided there was no longer any point in keeping my feet on the ground for the duration and started doing that weird, half jump moshy type dance you do when noone else seems to really be joining in and your bag (complete with academic articles and scary stary-eyes on the front) is a bit too big to let you move properly. It was good.

My best friend has promised to help with ranking at glasto. I apologise to the band now. But I can guarantee we'll be the two girls dancing our asses off somewhere near the front. Make sure you say hello.

(*Getting lost meant I missed the support act, which means you don't get to read my amazingly judgemental review of a band I will fall in love with in three months time just because I hear them on the radio too much. Shame. If you want to experience something along these lines, I direct you back to last year's Drums review)

Sound of 2011

2011-01-12T22:35:00.002Z

Ok you know I love the sound of 2011. It's like the mercury prize. Very few people seem to have heard of it, it's a little bit pretentious, but it does actually make a difference. Well a little bit.

If you want the full line-up/winners/interviews it's all on the BBC site. Obviously I have an opinion/some issues, and obviously I'm going to tell you about it, because I'm just pretentious enough think it matters.

1) I think they got it wrong.

Ok, as far as I'm aware everyone they ask gets one vote and then all of these get summed up to give the results. Plus the rules are a bit confusing (in terms of how much 'success' they've had before hand). Which would mean there is no discussion, no re-polling based on the shortlist, and therefore a whole lot of 'ooh yeah I forgot about them' when the list comes out. So basically I think the real list should have gone; Jessie J/Wretch-32/Nero/The Vaccines/James Blake. Possibly in that order.

2) There are issues with similar artists being posted.

Now fair enough both Jamie Woon and James Blake might be big next year, but surely they are going to have the same audience. So really the list should include 1 rock band/1 minimalist-new generation dubstep/1 chill rock/1 solo artist/1 urban in order to cover all bases. Or something like that. Because now if people don't get post-dubstep then your going to be wrong TWICE BBC poll people. (Though in all honesty if you look at previous lists there have been some major upsets. Like lady Gaga not getting voted number 1. . .)

3) They didn't get my opinion.

Ok it's not like they would, but if they did then I want to see Yuck and Wretch 32 in there because I've loved them longtime. (We're talking Cajun Dance Party days for Yuck - and the original Wretch Breakthrough track.) Jessie J would stay, because I like hearing her interviews and I do genuinely think she's going to be massive (It's still a female world). James Blake for being original. And probably Anna Calvi just for the amount of twitter hype she generated. Or maybe Nero because I'm sure I'm right about that one.

So, to sum up, that's at least one band I really like, one that's massively over-hyped by industry-types (and go most years end up filed in the 'fail' column), one act with real potential to be huge, one that fits the trend of the time, and one who's a bit different.

Ok that's it. Just thought I should clear it up. And for those who are still interested, I base all of the above on the following opinions;

Anna Calvi - Drove twitter wild when Domino introduced her as their signing. Still actually haven't heard anything (mainly because I'm trying to avoid it for fear of the hype)

Clare Maguire - Amazing voice but her biggest hit so far is dubstep remix of her latest single, which probably says that she won't be massive, but will be loved by the people who do know her.

Daley - Unusual, works well on the Gorillaz track. Not sure the UK is ready for male solo artists again.

Esben & The Witch - Don't know enough to comment. Had heard of them but only a bit, genuinely didn't realise they had so many people behind them. Intriguing.

Jai Paul - Really nice music. Well that one song I've heard. The one that kind of sinks into the background if your not paying attention.

James Blake - Really original, although I'm not sure if the pop charts are ready. The music fans are, but I don't know about the downloading tweenagers who determine success.

Jamie Woon - Would be original, if James Blake hadn't just got there first (and yes I know Night Air is six years old - we just didn't hear it til 2010).

Jessie J - Popstress extrordinaire. Ready for world domination. Major stars singing her praises. Genuine person.

Mona - Have generated as much twitter hate as Anni Calvi got hype. Probably because they got lots of hype from pretentious music types who then pretended to hate them. Or they're actually shit.

The Naked and Famous - I get it. I just don't like it. I'm sorry.

Nero - Strong, dance music that fits perfectly in the current musical landscape. Will do well in 2011.

The Vaccines - Ok so we have guitar bands again, but actually the Vaccines are nothing special so can everyone stop pretending like they are? I don't want to hate them for the hype, but can we tone it down a bit? Even if they are going to be jumped on by starved indie fans.

Warpaint - Again genuinely nice music that I enjoy and occasionally don't realise I'm listening to. What's with all these chillout artists? Did they poll people on a beach somewhere abroad?

Wretch 32 - I hope he makes it this time. Has some great lyrics and some cheesy ones that make him a perfect pop/rap star.

Yuck - Oh Cajun Dance Party why were you not more successful? Was it the Kooks? Did they steal your thunder? Please world do not let the Vaccines be bigger than Yuck. Or at least let them do better this time round. (NB Yuck are not the same as Cajun Dance Party, they are formed from the ashes of, but in my head its all the same)

Review of 2010 Part 4

2011-01-08T17:20:00.001Z

Last installment. Sorry for delays I had 'internet issues' (aka Dad why won't you tell me the wifi password you old cynic!) Some of these are probably still to be released etc, but they are all good.

October-December

Sway – Over (Game Over Freestyle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCUedTcpFbw

Saintsaviour – Woman Scorned http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hPwZv3nMMg

Chase and Status ft Tempa T – Hypest Hype http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Uwu5GR3eI

Mark Ronson & The Business International ft Boy George – Somebody to Love Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7MmqD4ovwg

The Count & Sinden ft Bashy – Addicted to You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhcdpfIMJ-Y

Lykke Li – Get Some http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TTPGAy5H_E

Spark – Revolving http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfCd5eomm2U

Jagga – Keep On The Light http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcFoCphARow

Far East Movement Ft Dev & The Cataracs – Like a G6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4s6H4ku6ZY

Jessie J – Do it Like a Dude (Jakwob Remix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_FvP8YnO_k (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOf3kYtwASo)

Adele – Rolling in the Deep http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lazyDlfaptM

Willow Smith –Whip my Hair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5mKAgb5px0

Various – Game Over (Female Takeover) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=innL5g7otS8

Mz Bratt – Get Dark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaKmQcSNpBU

Bullitts ft Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu – Close your Eyes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmozhjxSkGI

Poly Styrene – Black Christmas (Kahn Remix) http://soundcloud.com/search?q[fulltext]=kahn+styrene

Babycham ft Bounty Killer and Mykal Rose – Stronger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVQcuJ6odo

Clare Maguire – Ain’t Nobody (Breakage Remix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSbWfBZIjgE&feature=related

Devlin - Brainwashed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRob2t2PPek

Magnetic Man ft Ms Dynamite – Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKO-Fa05QHE

Review of 2010 Part 3

2011-01-07T11:19:00.000Z

July-September

Kele – Walk Tall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E09cirRXbo4

DJ Fresh – Gold Dust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNuUgbUzM8U

Swedish House Mafia Vs Tinie Tempah – Miami to Ibiza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCH1AsUydSc

Arcade Fire – We Used to Wait http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf2Ezo8SbSY

Janelle Monae ft Big Boi – Tight Rope http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc

Duck Sauce – Barbara Streisand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu_zwdmz0hE

Nicki and The Dove – DJ, Ease My Mind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTHPO9uQonk

Janelle Monae – Cold War http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqmORiHNtN4

I Blame Coco – Quicker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EedTVoq_Y6o

Toddla T ft Wayne Marshall – Sky Surfing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uozmvb3yPLc

Kanye West, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver – Monster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe0MbRJv4fg

Shy FX Ft Kano, Donaeo and Roses Gabor – Raver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzYlQFGAb24

Gaggle – I Like Cigarettes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQw1gJ5DJds

Skepta ft Preeya Kalidas – Cross My Heart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebfMLSAF6Ak

Kelly Rowland – Commander http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwfKZ-1jyiw

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. ft Shy FX – Collapsing Cities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8yXgpbN-5M

Paloma Faith – Upside Down (Or practically anything off the album) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKIM3SkR45I

B.O.B. ft Hayley Williams – Airplanes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6-c223DUU

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance the Way I Feel (Armand Van Helden Remix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkCzEnbbvNE

Review of 2010 Part 2

2011-01-05T19:35:00.002Z

Much debate here, I mean was the Lithuanian Eurovision entry by Inculto really one of my songs of May 2010? (In the end I decided it wasn't, but it definitely should have qualified for the final show, instead I included JLS on the list), but after much deliberation, here is part 2;

April- June

Gaggle – I Hear Flies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkx8j6-ymgg

Redlight ft. Ms Dynamite – What You Talking About http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3piv9EFZU8

Kanye West – Power http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE

Sleigh Bells – Tell ‘Em http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kJ05P-71gY

Major Lazer – Pon De Floor (Martelo Reedit) Unfindable. Pretty much the only way I know to get hold of it is the Annie Mac sunshine players mix (which you download anyway) http://www.anniemacpresents.com/blog.php?id=191

Marina and the Diamonds – I am Not A Robot (Doorly Remix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LghkOhUYYnQ

M.I.A. – XXXO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbQ5mHWkOs

Katy B – Katy on a Mission http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNhPYj-5rIY

Chase and Status ft Dizzee Rascal – Heavy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awfUqPXbNtU

Professor Green Ft Lily Allen – Just be Good to Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kk-dgcTSwY

Major Lazer vs La Roux ft Rusko – Tiger Lily (DYWHAP Blend) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Gw9Tt6GMk

Donaeo & Breakage – Speechless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXB6Z-lwsc

Rihanna – Te Amo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe4Ic7fHWf8

Skepta – Rescue Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TTceYEJif4

Akala – Yours and My Children http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqoZ3zaMXjU

Sage Francis – Best Of Times http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA8hzUDXvtk

Chemical Brothers – Swoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCp_3zw-CxA

Slow Club – Giving Up on Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qzOOg4pxw8

James Blake – CMYK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqScKIZaurE

JLS – The Club Is Alive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6cYoEu_P4 (Not kidding, actually loved this song – guilty pleasure.)

Review of 2010 Part 1

2011-01-04T17:32:00.001Z

So because it’s now the New Year and you obviously haven’t got bored of End of Year/What to Look For in the New Year lists, I decided it was time to post my own. I’ve split it into four sections (So you get one every day this week) covering the whole year. You might not like them, they might not be massive songs, they may not necessarily been released during that period of time, all I know is that I loved them and I played them a lot, so here they are.

Jan-March

Emika – Drop the Other http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJyaCRXhjM

Giggs Ft B.O.B. – Don’t Go There http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuI2_pjDlM

Goldilocks – Cold Sweat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Vt9KNvIIg

Theophilus London – Humdrum Town http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gypiIfMJYro

Nas & Damian Marley – As We Enter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMGd3mAfl-0

Die Antwoord – Enter the Ninja http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cegdR0GiJl4

Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLK4oaXUuLg

Chew Lips – Play Together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u89t4-9-kM8

Marina & The Diamonds – Guilty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m14_EuxhLw

Ellie Goulding – Guns and Horses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwbHeR0UYc

Sub Focus Ft. Coco – Splash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzKSdi5ZUsQ

Erik Hassle – Hurtful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLr7mAFegkQ

Laura Marling – Devil’s Spoke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJPRRUH07k

Marina Hollywood – Hollywood (Acoustic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JHINokmH6w

Twizzle vs Greenmoney – Skydiving http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_aVToZN_k8

Wild Beasts – We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkkJCSduFS0

Audio Bullys – Daisy Chains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCq9N3bUX44

Big Boi – Shutterbugg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWsvkW6rKkQ

Yeasayer - O.N.E. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLrKDGZx15c

Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsJVW5apRmY

The Raver Video

2010-12-14T00:55:00.003Z

Ok so Shy FX's record label (Digital Sound Boy) posted a competition on twitter today to see who would be the first people to name 35 of the cameos in his new video. If you haven't seen it, it's like the British version of the Duck Sauce Barbara Streisand video, and if you haven't seen that then you seriously need to take 8 minutes and watch them.

Anyway I like a challenge so I had a go, one take (even though I have seen it before) I got 19. If you take out the four artists actually involved in the song (Shy FX, Kano, Donaeo and Roses Gabor) then I got 15. Plus a load of 'OMG that's. . . that's. . . . nope it's gone' and a whole lot more of just plain 'nope's. (And I have decided the guy at the end is Banksy, cos, you know, he has a can of spray paint and is covering his face, so that's 15.5 right there)

For the duck sauce video I got eight without Duck Sauce, but I never claim to know much about the American scene so that's irrelevant.

One of the people I did spot was Goldielocks - the platinum blonde having a great time dancing. It's taken me about a week to work out who that was, which is bitter sweet cos I was obsessed with her at the start of the year so should have got it MUCH sooner. Anyway amid all this excitement I ran downstairs to my flatmate and uttered the following sentence 'OMG I finally worked out who the platinum blonde is in the Shy FX Raver video - it's goldielocks!' TBH other than the verbs I don't think he understood any of the last half of that sentence. The point being twitter gets me, even if my real friends don't. And you should all go watch those videos just for fun, and because you know you love the songs.

And you should also check goldielocks again, one of my songs of the year (I'm debating whether to do an actual list seeing as there is nothing to qualify me to make definitive lists of the year, but from what I've read, noone else is qualified either. . .) Happy christmas!

Dancehall Conscience Crisis

2010-11-27T15:23:00.002Z

I'm having a crisis of conscience. First I need to make a few things clear. 1) When I listen to music I instantly relate to the beat. If I ever relate to the lyrics (which I may know all the way through but actually still never have really paid attention to their message) then that always comes second. 2) When its cold and horrible outside I like to listen to summery music. It's not a deliberate decision I just want to dance (to keep warm more than likely). 3) I'm gay.

If you pair 1 & 2 together then it makes perfect sense that when its snowing outside I like to listen to dancehall. But if you pair 2 & 3 together than I'm obviously supposed to hate most dancehall for being generally homophobic to the extent of inciting violence. So when you add 1, 2 & 3 you get this massive crisis of conscience that goes something along the lines of 'I really love this song and want to dance to it but really I'm supposed to ignore this artist to try and teach them I don't support their points of view'.

Whatever. To this equation I'd like to add point 4. I'm not one of those overly politically-driven lesbians, I just like girls. In fact I generally hate the assumption that I would be a) feminist or b) vegetarian (almost more than the assumption that I can't possibly like wearing a dress) just because I'm gay. We aren't all the same. Just like all you straight guys aren't the same.

So yes, I'm supposed to hate Beenie Man. But equally I completely understand that everyone has their own opinions and that these aren't all the same, and more importantly I like to think that just because I don't agree with someone on a personal level doesn't stop me from realising that they have made a great a piece of music that I want to listen to. So the reason I don't listen to Katy Perry isn't because I'm annoyed she used fauxmo lesbianism to get famous, it's because actually I don't like most of her songs. And I can still love Nicki Minaj because she's awesome, even if she has pissed off a lot of lesbians by constantly re-evaluating her level of bisexualness depending which audience she's trying to win over. Roman's Revenge is an awesome piece of music, and I can ignore Eminem's return to homophobia so that I can enjoy that beat. (and for the record I LOVE the accent at the end.)

Ok, so I don't want my radio full of songs about gay-bashing, but if someone is good at music I don't think we should ignore them completely just because they're a jackass. I mean imagine what music would be like if we'd all refused to listen to Oasis just because Liam is a knobhead. So maybe I'm not going to buy any tickets to an Elephant Man show, but you better believe that if you stick Beenie Man 'Rum and Redbull' on the soundsystem then I'm gonna hit the floor and dance like I'm black (probably to a low degree of success). And I'm gonna enjoy it, regardless of anything he may or may not believe about the gays. Because do you know what? There are enough people out there telling me all the things I can't do just 'cos I'm gay, I really don't need all the gays telling me what I can do as well. I just want to listen to the beat.

Roots Level

2010-11-05T13:17:00.003Z

So at the start of the year we got our first taste of the Nas/Damian Marley collab album. As We Enter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMGd3mAfl-0 Still one of my favourite songs of the year. And I know this because four months later when they finally put out the video I was still excited. And when the DJ plays it in the club and noone else has a clue and I'm getting lost in the vocal (cos he's sped it up and I keep losing my place) its still one of the best moments of the night, even if they're all staring at the white girl trying to rap. Plus I own the Welcome to Jamrock album so I was a Damian Marley fan already.

Anyway it was interesting because in a way it showed a rapper trying to do something a bit different, Nas trying to get back to his 'roots', plus they kinda deal with the separate cultures in the song. I love it.

Which brings us to today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghZSwubqUF0 P Diddy and Skepta Hello Good Morning Grime Mix. We all know the US are really starting to rate the UK grime scene. All those interviews Jay-Z is doing at the moment? He won't stop talking about the UK music scene (and how great his label is compared to everything else out there and why they rule the charts blah blah blah etc etc etc). But this marks the first bit of actual action - and look they're even in the video. Together! In West London! God I'm excited.

I'll be honest, since I got over my Eminem/Tupac phase (when I was way too young to get most of it anyway) I've not been overly into US rap. Sure I like what Jay-Z did since repping against auto tune, and Kanye has always dropped some good beats, but (with the exception of following Nicki Minaj just to see what faces shes going to pull next) I've not been excited by US music of any kind in the same way I get excited about the UK scenes. I've barely been excited at all. Plus I only hear about the big bands because I don't care enough to find something that won't come to me through the radio 1 playlist.

On the other hand the UK at the minute has had me talking non-stop. I missed a seminar last week cos I was in the middle of a massive debate about f64. I actually had a count down for the Magnetic Man album (which I still don't own because I still don't have any money - thanks student finance!) I don't get any work done because I spend all my time trying to get my head around how many pop culture references Sway can fit into one freestyle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCUedTcpFbw

The point is this. Grime is very roots level. Nas/Damian Marley that was roots level. Roots level is new, raw, fresh, exciting. If this means the American Heavy weights are finally ready to jump back in that pool, then that can only be a good thing. If it means new come-up producers get major platforms to drop their beats and we can finally move away from the over-worked and kinda exhausted power houses we have at the minute then that's a good thing. Be excited, there are exciting times ahead.

Seriously, M.I.A. is on another level

2010-09-25T15:56:00.004+01:00

Ok I've talked about all the M.I.A. promo before. But seriously it gets ever BETTER. Follow her on twitter/like her on facebook - it's just crazy. The new scheme seems to involve buying up random web addresses and posting songs/short musical clips on them alongside her trademark screen grab effect movies of the kinda of scenes you see so much on the internet (youtube players, 'input the words above into the box' tests etc). The first one surfaced a few days ago and is worth it for the name alone

http://yesthelittlepeoplewillneverwinbuttheycanfuckshitup.com/

Seriously.

The next one was an unrealeased Diplo collab, that is pretty damn good. (Ok I'm biased 'cos I'm a massive Diplo fan, but I found Diplo through M.I.A. so it makes sense that I like their work together). http://4thepeopleontheboat.com/

Also I didn't realise it was a Diplo collab 'till he mentioned possibly releasing the final/proper version. (I thought it had his name on the site 'cos M.I.A. was making some kind of comment about their relationship since they broke up a few years ago - clearly I take celebrity personal lives far too seriously. #letsgetbacktothemusic)

The most recent one turned up today.

http://facebookgooglemyspaceyoutube.com/

I don't get it either, but that's not the point. I don't think anyone knows what goes on in her head, but you can be damn sure M.I.A. is one of the most creative minds out there today.

In fact the only person who comes close to this kind of video hype is iamamiwhoiam (google/youtube it if you care) who you won't have heard of, probably never will again, and only excites you if you're really really into you're art/music crossover experiments. Plus we are now almost certain it's not Karin from the Knife (Fever Ray) 'cso someone has claimed responsibility so the mystery is gone, and the talking has stopped. Tough luck. Perhaps she should hire M.I.A. next time?

PS in other M.I.A. news one of the signings on her record label NEET recordings posted their first video this week. They are called Sleigh Bells, and right now you think you hate them. Actually you love them. Check the video for 'Infinity Guitars' here.

More Radio 1

2010-09-12T19:31:00.007+01:00

I don't quite know how to put in to words how good the late night has been this week. Huw Stephens did a whole TWO HOURS of acapella songs including live sessions and everything. Beautiful.

Mary-Anne Hobbs did her last ever radio 1 show. Noooooooo. We'll miss you (and your amazing voice Mary-Anne). It included a special mix from Burial and Kode 9 and was an excellent way to sign out. And lets get this straight, Mary-Anne has inspired me soo much that it seems sad to let this part of my life go away.

But then before I could get too depressed they dived right in to the Annie Nightingale celebration special (which I'm 30 mins in to and its already excellent). And you know that if Annie Nightingale is there then it sure is one hell of party!

So what's the point of this post? Nothing I guess. I mean I've already told you about how good late night Radio 1 is, but seriously if you never listen to it, just try ONE show this week, there will be something you like, I guarantee. Meanwhile I'm off to officially change the second half of my name to Anne* because it seems if you want to present a late night show on radio 1 you've got to have an 'Anne' (see above or even Annie Mac) in your name, and I really,really want to be a part of that. And you should too.

*FYI my name is actually Lucy-othername (as in the one that only ever gets used by my grandparents/other old people or when I'm in shit loads of trouble that I rarely admit to existing, but as of now shall be 'Anne') hence Lucy Dash. Gettit?

the wilderness downtown

2010-09-03T13:06:00.002+01:00

Let's be honest, if you've been on the internet this week, and certainly if you've been anywhere near twitter then you know about the new Arcade Fire music video/google chrome experiment/childhood flashback that is http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/. (If you don't know about it then there is clearly some massive source of information missing in your life, and you shouldn't be relying on people like me to find it for you!)

*Before I begin I've just got to get over the one MASSIVE problem I have with the video. Why is the guy running at night time when they are showing my street in the daytime? It just ruins it! I mean obviously if the guy was running in the day time then you'd see more of the features of that street and it would be less universally-applicable, and equally if they shot google streetview at night then it would make it slightly pointless but still, I'd like just a tiny little bit more continuity and then it would be perfect. Especially as I only ever seem to be walking around at night times now anyway.*

But apart from that, you can't ignore the possibilities of this video. Arcade Fire have always been different and experimental, but with the mundaneness of the music industry these days a little bit of creativity (particularly something that harnesses the power of the internet) is going to go a long way to getting your message/song out there. I don't really need to talk to you about all the M.I.A. publicity stunts again do I? And this video certainly got the people talking.

Irritatingly I got hold of the link 8 minutes before I needed to leave for work. 3 minutes before I needed to leave craptop had finally loaded it. 2 mins after I needed to leave, craptop had managed to give me a very very bad impression of what the experience was supposed to be. So I spent my whole shift desperately wanting to get home so I could see it properly, and slightly irritated that I'd missed my bus to see a very very shoddy, constantly freezing, poor imitation of possibly the biggest media event of the week (bigger, even, than the iTunes press conference - because lets be honest we know how those things work now, even if this one did have the Chris Martin surprise). All this meant, though, that when I finally saw the thing properly I was even more impressed.

I mean in principle it's not exactly visually amazing, or without fault (see above), but what it is is simple, personal, different and new, and one of those 'damn-why-did-noone-think-of-doing-this-before-moments'. And it has set the bar for the future of music videos/promotion.

So come on everyone else, Arcade Fire have made the first move, what are you going to do in response? (And a 3-d video won't count unless you can make it so we can all see it without having to go buy a new tv/computer screen/funny glasses).

For the Weekend

2010-08-20T11:38:00.004+01:00

I did this for my brother to celebrate/commiserate his AS-Level results (I don't think he's actually got them yet - it's complicated) and decided it would be a waste not to share it.

So here we are, a few songs to party to this weekend;

1) Katy B (obviously) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNhPYj-5rIY or even the new one with DJ Zinc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ynf2ScKiA

2) Kanye (because its the VMAs soon and we all know what happened last year, plus this version with Jay-Z is hot news) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhR-ykwAiLA (there's also a new Kanye track with Beyonce 'see me now' but the audio gets blocked a lot, I'll work on it)

3) DJ Fresh (because its awesome and feel good, especially the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPAN5dGbmc

4) Swedish House Maffia and Tinie Tempah (because its the best thing since sliced bread) http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/

Enjoy

Benga is God

2010-07-28T14:52:00.003+01:00

If you follow my twitter (which you should because the rants are shorter, and therefore easier to deal with) you know I LOVE the new Benga/Katy B song, Katy on a Mission. If you've somehow missed my public OTT proclamations of love I suggest you take a few minutes to listen to it now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNhPYj-5rIY. (FYI, like most of my fave songs, I really HATED it the first time, so just sit there and listen on repeat till it makes sense :P)

Either way, I kept it up because of one thing. Benga. This guy is a production God. Frontrunner for Dubstep, one third of Magnetic Man, and someone who has inadvertently introduced me to so many artists I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

So there was the very beginning (for me at least) all those years ago with Coki. Remember this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMR5K2QWfJk I liked it, no hard-hitting OMG-I-must-learn-everything-about-these-artists obsessive kinda love though. Just enough to play it every now and then and dance when it was on. I kinda remembered the names, but they were just there, and tbh I wasn't all that aware of Dubstep to be properly into it.

Then sometime last summer there was the collab with Eve WHICH I STILL CAN'T TRACK DOWN! (If anyone wants to solve this problem for me, I will be eternally grateful to the extent of kissing your feet in a public space). Definitely one of my favourite songs of last year, possibly ever. The bassline kills. This is the best version I have http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJvw1tJ8qs. But you get it right?

So by now I'm, like, in love with Benga. Hence (I had a bet with my friend about reinstating this word, *hence* it appears in all my essays, and now apparently my blogs :/) at the start of this year I find out he is working with people like Katy B, or Goldielocks, who I'd never heard of before but suddenly get really excited about because they're on some of my favourite tracks of the year. I mean if it wasn't for the (admittedly false) claim that Benga produced this, I'd never have got into Goldielocks at all. And that would have been a tragedy.

Plus now he's working even harder to get Dubstep to the mainstream (if Katy B doesn't succeed) as part of the Dubstep super-group Magnetic Man, who are currently responsible for the oh-so-loveable 'I Need Air'. The rest of their output is pretty damn good too. (Check 'CyberMan'). And they definitely killed it live at glasto. Even if there is only one dance to dubstep (the knee-bend obviously), that whole tent was dancing their asses off.

So I love Benga for his seriously impressive musical output. But it's not just that. It's the fact he still has a funtime attitude (Why not streak during the Temper Trap?) and that he just keeps inspiring others (eg this cover which I literally heard about just now.) I keep trying to tell my real friends that Benga is God, but they just give me that pitying look that says 'Ok, Lucy, we know you love the guy, but you can just shut up now, ok?' so I'm telling you guys instead, hope it works.

People I like :: Kele

2010-07-21T14:02:00.004+01:00

(NB the title is a nod to Kele's blog)

Seriously though, I do love this guy. Having always been disappointed with Bloc Party live I decided to give him one last chance to redeem himself for his solo set at glasto this year. Arriving halfway through, I definitely hit one of the biggest parties in the JP (John Peel Tent) all weekend. In fact it was so good, I ended up seeing him again a week later at the uni with my very confused brother (it took him a long time to piece together the idea that Kele was not a) female b) white c) spelt 'Kelly' and was in fact d) a member of Bloc Party, he got there in the end.)

There was fun, dancing, some seriously strict alcohol rules (erm hello, what happened to the uni bar I knew?) amongst some heavy moshing (during which I managed to somehow pull an amazing 'geek in a moshpit' pose, by twisiting my ankle, losing my glasses and nearly hitting the floor all at the same time, cos I'm, like, just soooo cool - seriously though my ankle is still swollen two weeks later, do I need to see a doctor or should I keep waiting?)

Anyway, in amongst all the hilarity was a pretty impressive selection of songs from the new album (still streaming on We7) which is just pure catchy, dancy, fun. I love it so much I might even consider paying actual money for it, so I can listen without the adverts :O. Plus there were enough Bloc Party favourites to keep the old crowd amused (a medley played before recent single 'Tenderoni' was followed both times by the phrase 'that was something for the old fans, now here's something for the new ones'), which shows pretty good respect for his fans I reckon, especially as the stuff on the new album is good enough to stand on its own right.

Whether or not this signals the end of Bloc Party though, seems to always be the main point. But let's be honest, does it really matter? It's not like a guy can't be in two musical projects at once, and it's not like this new stuff is awful, it's pretty damn good, so who really cares? Even if it is the end, Kele on his own seems a more than adequate replacement and if it's not then whoop whoop Bloc Party live on, so just deal with it. Go buy the album, see him live and just enjoy it. (And do just a tiny bit of research on Dev Hynes/Lightspeed Champion's old band Test Icicles so you can laugh at the banter.)

Listen, love, spread the word.

Oh yes it's mercury time

2010-07-20T14:43:00.002+01:00

I don't know why I care so much about this award. I mean for starter's it's not like I'm in a band or any form of musical producing set-up that would have a chance of getting nominated (let alone win) the prize. Plus for an awards show, it's just one prize, so it's not like you can manage to guess 7/10 winners correctly but have missed out on best dressed female, best new-comer and greatest musical soundtrack contribution or whatever. So no ego-boosting. There is just one winner. 12 acts, one winner. Which makes it sound tense, but lets be honest, for an award show is just a little bit pretentious. Plus it's not like anyone really cares about it except music boffs. And other than the small sticker on the front of the album and a bit of press coverage, most of the record buying public will stay blissfully unaware of its presence. But it really does seem to mean something. I mean, if your already successful, the prize fund (£20 000 I think) isn't really a lot, and album sales aren't particularly different to those post Brits or something, but for the little bands it means a hell of a lot. And I think this is why I like it, because it really is open to anyone. Mainstream and outlying experimental jazz bands alike.

So anyway, nominations were out today (from Nme.com). Voila. (I'd pass comment but I don't really own enough of them, so I'll do some research and repost closer to d-day - September 7th)

Biffy Clyro – 'Only Revolutions'
Corinne Bailey Rae – 'The Sea'
Dizzee Rascal – 'Tongue N' Cheek'
Kit Downes Trio – 'Golden'
Foals – 'Total Life Forever'
I Am Kloot – 'Sky At Night'
Laura Marling – 'I Speak Because I Can'
Mumford And Sons – 'Sigh No More'
Paul Weller – 'Wake Up The Nation'
Villagers – 'Becoming A Jackal'
Wild Beasts – 'Two Dancers'
The XX – 'XX'

I know the favourite never wins, but the XX have been a prediction since BEFORE last year's nominations, and seeing as These New Puritans aren't on there. . . . I mean I'm just saying.

Ms. Dynamite

2010-06-30T23:31:00.002+01:00

I don't know which way round it's working but Ms. Dynamite seems to be on every big-hitting dance record at the minute. I don't know if this is 'cos she's got her ear to the underground and tracking down the best producers to work with, or if it's 'cos she's got them queueing up to work with her, but somehow she's doing pretty damn well out of it.

I mean just try these for size (and I know there's more);

With the Nextmen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5k_DcLzqs

With Zinc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKB3hJBvAZY

And the newest one that has got the DJ's apeshit (and is pretty hard to track down) with Redlight http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2010/06/hottest_record_redlight_ft_ms.html

I'm pretty sure there's at least one more but it's late and I'm tired. Either way, I think if you consider yourself into dance music right now, you damn sure better be following Ms. Dynamite.

Glasto turns 40

2010-06-29T18:37:00.002+01:00

Obviously if my dad is going to arrive early, pitch my tent, by my ticket and give me alcohol, there was no way on earth I was going to miss glasto this year (ok I've not missed a year since my dad deemed I was 'old enough' but these advantages just sweeten the deal). And I didn't even have to see him that much. So on Thursday I got on a train, got to the site, and started my annual mission of making the average act price less than a fiver. I was struggling this year (I only had 26 by the end of Saturday! :P), but got my act together and managed 39. (That's a grand total of £4.74 each. Score!) (There may be more in this list, thats because I was probably just sat in the nearest bar while they were on.) So here they all are (in ten words or less to stop me rambling, cos I do enough of that already);

Thursday

Jamie XX - Shy on stage, but knows his music

Wax Tailor - UK funky except less UK and more funky

Joy Orbison - Delivers EXACTLY what the crowd wants. Very cool.

Friday

The Charles Hazlewood All-Stars - I was there 45 mins. Heard two songs. Longwinded.

The Stranglers - Bonding moment with my dad. Punks together.

Bill Ferguson - A very funny man. Don't arrive late.

Someone at Bourbon Street (I didn't catch a name and the listings just day TBA - great!) - Good jamming session. Want to know your name.

Kele - Good solo/Bloc Party mix. Good fun.

Ellie Goulding - Packed tent, very high pitched voice, worth the hype?

Florence and the Machine - Amazing as ever. Voice soo much better live.

Plan B - I left Florence for this? Oh hell yes!

Dizzee Rascal - Dizzee = Party time. Headline soon?

Gorillaz - Good show, shit audience. Weird moments.

Congo Natty - Good for a dance in the early hours.

Annie Mac - Too packed to dance but loved the Katy B drop.

Chase and Status - Beat heavy masters of their genre.

Saturday

I Blame Coco - Excellent for an opener. Stop asking 'how are you guys?'.

Ras Kwame - Just remember lots of dancing like I'm black.

Skepta - Some big crowd pleasers. Looks good for the future.

Donae'o - I love that voice. Kept on dancing.

Brother Ali - A white guy who thinks he's black.

Seasick Steve - Always a crowd pleaser, drummer still makes him a sell-out. :p

The Dead Weather - I love Jack White. Good rock n roll.

Marina and the Diamonds - Even bigger ego than last year. Good show-woman, good voice.

Shakira - Must. stop. staring. at. her. body. Party instead.

Scissor Sisters - Good fun, gay, glasto loving. And they got Kylie.

Muse - Always epic live. Their sound just explodes.

Sub Focus - Such a good party. The Glade came alive.

Sunday

Yeovil Town Band - Better for my hangover than I thought. Good on them.

Paloma Faith - Great show-woman, amazing attention to detail, amazing costume.

Everything Everything - Voice more bearable live. Some very good songs.

These New Puritans - There's different and there's shit. Still not sure which.

A1 Bassline - Poor guy tried hard, no one wanted to dance.

Jaguar Skills - Set for world domination. What a good party!

The Drums - Good stage presence, good fun.

Professor Green - Enjoyable, but I wanted to hear Upper Clapton Dance.

Dark Horses - Played some very weird instruments to make a good racket.

Chew Lips - I love this band! Her voice is beautiful live.

Filthy Dukes - To be honest, I was just waiting for crystal castles.

Crystal Castles - Manic, crowd surfing chaos as always. High security.

Jack Beats - Good dubstep driven warm up for the next band. (Magnetic Man)

Magnetic Man - Benga is God. These guys are ready for more.

Phew. What did you guys think?

Summer Anthems

2010-06-14T13:58:00.003+01:00

Obviously it is festival season. If you've been distracted by the World Cup and not yet realised this, I forgive you, however I request that you refrain from referring to yourself as a music fan until July 11th. That's just how it goes. I'm sorry.

Anyway, as happens every summer, particularly at the festivals, there are certain 'summer anthems' starting to float around. I hope to try and give you a list of some of them under the perfectly stereotypical headings that they fit under.

The Indie Anthem
(The one for indie-heads that transcends. Like Kings of Leon's 'Sex on Fire'.)
Ok so I'm struggling to work this one out so far, because I'm so distracted by all the Rage [Against the Machine] love at the minute. But I really, REALLY hope it goes to the return of Arcade Fire.
Month of May/The Suburbs

The Dance Anthem
(The massive, massive dance anthem that every one loves. Normally by a pop act. Like Dizzee Rascal 'Bonkers'.)
Kanye West - Power
OK so we all hate Kanye. That means he needs to work really hard to get our love back, and lets be honest the only way to do this would be with an absolutely massively amazing song that everybody loves, right? Oh that's what he's gone and done? Should stop us all hating him until next award season at least.

The Actual Dance Anthem
(The one that real DJ's play, that almost makes it to mainstream. Like High Contrast 'Something Good 08'. (or maybe something better that I can't think of right now 'cos I'm feeling a bit thick))
Swedish House Mafia - One (or featuring Pharrell Williams)
Already causing mayhem, a first original output from some of the God's of dance music is certain to get played at least once a night across the country. This is definitely a banger. And even you non-dance heads will get to hear it now they stuck a vocal over the top!

The Festival Favourite Anthem
(The one by the band that is at almost every festival. Or a classic (see anything ever released by Oasis).)
Hard to judge, and usually festival-dependent, it is almost essential this song can be played on acoustic guitar round the camp fire. Chances however may go to The Strokes reunion ('Last Night'), The Libertines Reunion ('Can't Stand Me Now') or my personal hope Florence and the Machine ('Dog Days') even if the falsetto is hard to sing.

The Festival Newbie Anthem
(The band that everyone reckons is 'the next big thing' and consequently gets one of the biggest crowds of the festival. Like (much as I hate to say this) Glasvegas. (Ewww).)
I reckon this year it can only be the Drums, a branch of the ever-growing 'Surf Pop' revival. Summery summery tunes + just released the album + playing every festival going = massive P&R success story + Massive crowd singalong.
The Drums - 'Let's Go Surfing'/'Best Friend'

The Remix Anthem
(The really good remix (probably of an indie/festival/newbie anthem) that gets played in every festival DJ set. Like Skream's version of La Roux's 'In for the Kill'.)
Doorly - Marina and the Diamonds' 'I am not a Robot'
From the sweet innocent beginnings to the dirty, grindy end, this song is getting enough love pre-festivals to ensure plenty of love during festivals. Get ready for that line 'And let the drumbeat drop. . . '

The Anthem you hear abroad and can't get enough of but actually doesn't become famous in the UK until about October when all it does is remind you off your fun in the sun while outside its actually dark, cold and wet Anthem.
(The UK are always late on these things. Like 'Riverside'.)
Ok so I've not been abroad yet this summer (though I've somehow managed to blag myself a week on a yacht in the Mediterranean - score!) so I'll update this later. The only inkling I have so far I'm pretty sure is left over from last summer but we'll stick it here anyway, even if it has been and gone.
Edward Maya - 'Stereo Love'
Although secretly I have high hopes for this, after they failed (?!!) to qualify for eurovison.
InCulto - 'Eastern European Funk' (Like if Orson came from Lithuania, stick with it)

Plus here are some more for good luck.
Mark Ronson - 'Bang Bang Bang'
Perfectly catchy, perfectly poppy, perfectly danceable. Very weird video. Perhaps not a banger, but certainly a summer hit.

LCD Soundsystem - 'Drunk Girls'
Last chance to catch them. Awesome new album. James Murphy probably wont, but absolutely should, own the summer.

Benga - 'Katy on a Mission'
Awesome beats is no mean feat, but Benga just rolls them out. And when he's not too busy he likes to collaborate with Skream and Artwork and make even better beats under the guise of Magnetic Man.

Diplo - Major Lazer 'Pon de Floor'
The American producer, half responsible for Major Lazer, wholly responsible for crazyness, fun and good music. And the return of Robyn.

M.I.A. - 'XXXO'
So what if I'm biased. So what if she's not really at any festivals. M.I.A. can be the summer banger on your ipod instead. She's amazing, deal with it.

Oh and guess you want some football songs too.
James Corden and Dizzee Rascal (To give us hope until we lose again, does the chorus actually make sense though?)
K'Nann - The actual footy anthem. (Don't act like you can go the whole of the next month avoiding it, at least this version hasn't been anglophiled)
We Are Scientists - The festival footy anthem. (Who cares if they're 66% American?)

I think that's it, though I'm sure I'll want to update this in about 2 weeks time, after my first festival.

Ps is it ok to like this? It's very good. I think.
JLS - 'The Club is Alive'

Why Radio 1 Matters

2010-06-05T20:43:00.002+01:00

So this turned up on the internet today http://www.youtube.com/user/ibizatalk It's lead clip is basically a group of DJs/artists/record labels discussing why radio 1 matters so much to the world of music, and not just in the UK. To sum it up; it really does, because radio 1 is such a platform for launching music. And we're not talking about the day time here, this is about the late night, the specialist shows, the real forefront of new music.

I campaigned for the saving of 6Music (well to an extent - I am, after all, a lazy student), but if I'm genuinely honest, and the worst happens and it does go, it won't kill me. I mean my dad has always encouraged me to listen to the classics, and I do pretty well finding the new music on my own, or through Radio 1. People are always shocked when they hear I listen to Radio 1 so much, but you've got to make it clear, it's not about the daytime. That is pretty much as shit as everyone makes it out to be.

What radio 1 does so well, and like they say in the clip, is play the music you can't find anywhere else (or at least nowhere else on the radio). It's fairly true; you can hear someone from French Record Label 'Ed Banger Records talking about how, despite being based in France, they get virtually no air time over there, and pretty much gain their fan base through radio 1. I've done research on this (in fact I used them as an example) and it's true. They have laws stating how much new music must be played on French radio, and yet it still pales in comparison when exposing new genres, new styles and new artists. Artists worldwide rely on radio 1, it's why so many bands break here before they make it 'back home'.

If I'm honest I don't know what I'm really trying to say here. Probably just a 'woo some people who are actually pretty musically minded really agree with me and is ok to listen to radio 1 even if they are biased', but it really is true. And with the Iplayer its not like you even need to stay up till the early hours to listen. So go do it. Experiment. Try some shows you've never listened to before. Because, you might just get the first chance to hear the next big thing months ahead of time, or even find something you really like that you wouldn't have heard elsewhere, and that can only be a good thing.

I'm on the Wrong Degree

2010-05-25T22:27:00.003+01:00

Ok, so it's exam time, and in the last 48 hours (minus sleeping/eating/actually managing to attend one of my exams) I have discovered 3 new artists that I can't stop listening to (more later), decided on about 3 millions blogs I want to post but can't because 'I'm revising' and even managed to end up reading a review of the new releases in America this week for noooo apparent reason. Oh and I had a massive debate with my dad, and then with my brother over who's gonna replace U2 at glasto. (I reckon move Dizzee up stick someone else on before Rolf - but that's irrelevant.)

Anyway somehow (and I guess unsurprisingly) the only proper revision I've done is read a Lady Gaga interview in French. Greatttt. Really helped me get through my paper on French city life and writing about my experiences as a language student. Hopefully I won't fail. Saying that, I somehow managed to justify exploring a couple of English artists on French music labels for my end of year project and presentation, so maybe I won't fail all that much.

But seeing as I can't keep my mouth shut (and am obviously in desperate need of ways to procrastinate) here are some bands to check out before I bore you all silly with stupid blogposts as of when the summer starts (on Thursday).

Gaggle. 'Cos there's totally nothing you can poke fun at in an all female alt-choir who want to get back at the boy-band/sex driven music seen (err sex sells) by wearing kooky outfits and using codenames. How neo-feminist of you! Actually when you listen to them, there really is nothing to poke fun at. Well maybe the lyrics are a little bit weak, but just listen to the atmosphere. (I honestly don't mean that to sound as pretentious as it does, but then again I never thought I'd fall in love with a choir band. . . .)

Crows - Live at Maida Vale

Sleigh Bells. Much like all the new M.I.A. stuff (except XXXO), it took me a couple of listens. They're on M.I.A.s label and already critic favourites, so expect lots of over-drafted oeuvres on the 'next best thing' (who actually might not do as great as everyone wants them to, but really should) over the next few months.

Tell 'em

CocknBullkid. First discovered at glasto a few years ago, it seems like there's finally a lot of album work happening in CocknBullkid world right now. Which (and I'm probably wrong) I'm pretty sure involved being in the studio with a producer when Diplo was supposed to meeting him. (I.e. it may involve Diplo but actually probably has no connection at all and I should really check my facts). (If you don't know Diplo, do some research. Try Major Lazer, MIA, or anything else with his name on it.) Anyway, even without that, she's worth listening to.

I'm not Sorry

And right now, I'm not going to check either my facts for this post, or the ones I need for my forthcoming exams. I'm going to eat snack food, listen to some music, and go to bed. Thank God first year doesn't count.

I don't know what it is but I blame Coco

2010-05-09T18:39:00.004+01:00

Ok, I don't know what it is, but there is SOMETHING that has made me spend most of yesterday afternoon researching I Blame Coco.

I know it started some time about 6 months ago with the song 'Caesar' featuring Robyn. I know it got even worse when I finally recognised her vocal on the new Sub Focus record 'Splash' (seriously it was driving me insane for about a week), but I couldn't name any specific references (ie seeing her name in a news article/hearing a song on the radio) that got me started on all this. That means (in my head) she wasn't worth paying attention to at the start, yet now, the day's just not complete if I've not played at least one youtube video and read at least one article describing how shy she is in interviews.

In amongst all this revision I found her name on a 'one's to watch list', written LAST January. So ok she didn't make any great shakes last year, but that does mean she must have been making some pretty good noise since at least 2008. So why has it taken so long? Is it this mystery that draws me in? Not really I mean look at bands like friendly fires. They re-released Paris and Jump In the Pool what like 4 times each before people started to pay attention. It's not that uncommon.

So what makes Coco special? If I'm honest I have no idea. I'm gonna go with the voice itself, that kinda sultry tone that's really hard to listen to, yet draws you in at the same time (like Mary Anne Hobbs on radio 1). Or maybe it's the fact she never washes her hair (apparently) yet still has a modelling contract with Burberry. I DON'T KNOW! All I know is you should go listen. Oh and that it certainly shouldn't matter who her parents are. . .

Ecoutez-vous! (Listen Up!)

2010-05-04T23:01:00.002+01:00

My internet is broken (well obviously not now, but I wrote this on word first when it was broken so :P to you). It’s irritating. I’m trying to show why French radio is rubbish for my final project but I can’t do the research (actually it’s not; it’s just biased, a bit like how we play no French music). Anyway as I’m writing this I’m actually listening to my radio. Really listening. My radio is always on (I get a bit too freaked out if it’s silent) but it’s on so much I don’t really LISTEN anymore. I mean I hear it, I just don’t consciously process it.

So far I’ve heard three things that just show me what music is.

1) Gorillaz. A live set. Amazing. It’s just beautiful beats, melodies, lyrics. It’s music to listen to, music for music’s sake. And it’s so well done. To me music should always have that part to it. Great if you’re political or media-heavy, but if it’s not worth listening to, if it’s not the aural equivalent of aesthetically pleasing (aurally-pleasing maybe?) it’s not worth it. I’ve been listening to the second Gorillaz album a lot at the minute, and it just shows how much thought you can put into music. Number one - beats.

2) M.I.A. There has literally just been a ten minute discussion on the RADIO about the video for M.I.A.’s new song. The focus wasn’t the media attention gathered by the video, but the video itself (which is Lady Gaga’s telephone for people who like politics in their music – and you need to watch it) which in itself kinda shows how successful this new M.I.A. media campaign has been. It’s got people talking. And whether that was the point or not, all this new M.I.A. stuff HAS got people talking. I mean she announced her new album by flying a blimp over the Coachella festival with the release date on it. It doesn’t even have a name yet! Then she took over twitter for the day. (Well not the whole site but the tweets for a pretty major American music publication). Plus she kinda made her first comeback by just posting a video online and not even bothering to claim it for 24 hours. There has to be a new way to get your message out there these days and M.I.A. is ALLLL over it. Number two – good publicity.

3) Akala. Randomly I was tracking down an old Akala song the other day that I’d almost forgotten about (probably subconscious listening influencing me again) and right now he’s back with a pretty epic, politically driven new song. That’s the third thing that makes music, the message. I mean Akala even admitted in the interview that the message is probably over-dreamy, but it’s something he believed in. If your going to bother putting lyrics on a song, you’ve got to have had something to say in the first place (whether it’s actually worth listening to is an entirely different matter). And there are some lyrics that are really worth listening to, not just hearing in the background while I write about the unjustness of French radio.

So that’s it for me. Beats, publicity, message. Probably in that order too.* But whatever, that is music today and I should really listen more often.

*I can justify this if you really care. 1) Anyone who says music is only about the lyrics, really just wants to hear poetry on tape, except they don’t they want the melody as well. Therefore music = beats, first and foremost. 2) If you have bad publicity it’s gonna take longer for me to hear it. I know that’s not the musician’s fault but it’s a fact. So 2 = publicity. 3) Finally, I like if music does speak to me. So the lyrics are pretty important too. There you go. Didn’t think you’d care. :P

bored of tweeting? try flowing.

2010-03-27T15:59:00.003Z

So there's this new web application out there. It's called Mflow. I've been signed up for about five minutes more than it's taken to write this post. I love it. It's the legal answer to illegal downloading. Apparently. It might work. But for those who didn't do illegal in the first place it's pretty cool. It's itunes meets twitter. Actually it's more than cool (put on fake USA surfer accent) it's awesome.

Basically you follow people, and people follow you. Anytime someone wants to recommend a song they send out a 'flow' to all their followers. Voila. You now have a load of musical recommendations straight to your inbox. It's now up to you if you stream it online (I'm pretty sure the number of full streams is limited to one) or download it - ready to stick straight onto your ipod.

Even better; if anyone buys a song you recommend, or 'flow' - the terminology will eventually come naturally, like 'tweet/tweeps/twart' (twitter art) - you get 20% of what they spent added to your own credit. Genius. So it's streaming/legal downloading/recommendation/money making software I guess. Cool. Ingenious. Awesome.

Anyway I'm wasting time. It's invite only at the minute, but you can try using the 'Zane444' code I used. Check it out. It's free to try, and you never know, you might like it. It might even change the way things work. Or not. Only time will tell.

The music or the personality?

2010-03-22T17:25:00.003Z

Everyone is always complaining, 'with all the media these days, artists are judged more on who they are, than the music they make'.

It's true. There's the general media press itself, with gossip offshoots enough to make you judge anyone who's even remotely famous, not just those with an actual reason (sports stars, musicians, actors, politicians vs there wives, family, exes and those who just have big tits). Then there's all the face-to-face media, Twitter, myspace, facebook, blogs etc. You almost can't like a band without knowing everything about them first.

But there are two main questions here. Is this a good thing? And is it really that different to before? I mean I know people who are in bands, but whether I listen to their music is still judged on whether I like them or not. If I don't like you, you're probably not my friend, and when you spam my facebook with requests to check your band's new myspace page, chances are, I'm not gonna bother. Equally if you're a good mate of mine, I'm much more likely to listen. In the same vein if I meet you at a party, you're hot, and you mention that you're in a band, I'm much more likely to listen to you than if you've taken over the sound system to shamelessly self promote yourself/your music in a way that generally turns the whole room against you.

Which is really no different than checking out a band 'cos you liked their interview/press shots in the latest NME or whatever, right? Equally, if you refuse to listen to Babyshambles just because it's Pete Doherty, you can't say that's different to avoiding the loud guy at the party. The trouble is when it works the other way round. I mean I loved the Master Shortie song 'Dead End' but I got a little bit too annoyed with his twitter feed, and have pretty much avoided him ever since. Not that that has been difficult, in my narrow radio driven world, I've not actually been exposed to much Master Shortie since then. Perhaps I'm not the only one to get bored? Is twitter et al just one massive way to get yourself heard then shoot yourself in the foot? Or does your personality, and it's ability to cope with new success do that for you?

I mean on the one hand, if you're generally a great person, and really interact with your fans, this new media driven music scene is gonna really help you. (Justin Bieber maybe?) And perhaps if you don't work it too well it really won't. (OMG Justin Bieber get out of my TTs and leave me alone - I will NEVER listen to your music). It's a fine line. Saying that, if people can like Oasis, it's obviously not just the personality that matters. But then Oasis were lucky enough to arrive just before the media REALLY took over. I mean their biggest problem was whether they'd get support or angst from a publication when they took on Blur - who cared if anyone thought they were jackasses? The question is whether the new face-to-face/gossip driven world stop the new Oasis? Or will myspace, youtube, and twitter help them get a message out there before people can realise?

Clearly I don't have the answer. (Why would I?) In fact all I seem to do is question myself. It's something I've only just started thinking about. But it seemed like it was something important I had to say, so I said it. If you don't have anything to say, say nothing at all, if you do get it out there. That's what face-too-face is all about right? Though I am sorry I ramble. This is why I work better on twitter. ;)

Album Review Mashup - 'Femme' Pop

2010-03-14T17:40:00.004Z

I'm doing pretty well for albums this year. I'm getting about one a week. Anyway I decided I should probably write about some of them, cos you know they're pretty good. I also realised this whole new 'femme-pop' thing (yeah cos OMG there's like suddenly girls singing again now that Indie doesn't rule the world and therefore we should make such a big deal of it that it becomes its own genre!), which started with Lily Allen and picked up last summer with Florence, Little Boots et al, kinda makes up a significant section of my new album buying (at least one a month). So I might as well compare these albums with each other, right?

Anyway the three albums I'm going for are Marina and the Diamonds 'The Family Jewels', Ellie Goulding 'Lights' and Chew Lips 'Unicorn' (this band aren't femme pop, but in my eyes femme pop isn't even a genre so I'm gonna use it anyway cos the singer is like, shock horror, female!)

If I summed up each album in one word based on first listen it would be easy; Marina = pop, Chew Lips = fluid, Ellie Goulding = soppy (I'm not really an OTT romantic love song person, so anything that's even slightly loved-up becomes 'soppy' in my world). And after first listens I'm pleasantly surprised by Chew Lips, fairly OK with Ellie and HATING Marina. And they're probably ranked in that order.

So maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but I didn't like Marina so much I didn't listen to it again for a few weeks. Now however, I love it so much I'm slightly annoyed I lent it to my friend (even though it's already on my ipod). Chew Lips on the other hand, being the first released, has been my default album for nearly three months. It's beautiful. Ellie has just kind of faded out. It's got a bit too soppy to be honest.

It does however have the best opening track. I mean the Chew Lips effort, Eight, is alright but it's a bit slow/empty (much like the album closer, so at least they're consistent) whereas Marina (Are you Satisfied) is just a bit weird, not entirely sure it's the kind of song you want people to judge the rest of the album from. 'Guns and Horses', meanwhile makes enough of a statement to open the album, and is fairly strong musically. Possibly a single I guess.

Which brings me on to my problem with Ellie Goulding. Granted I didn't like her first single until I'd heard it a few times, but I actually couldn't hear anything on this album that is definitely single-material, with the exception of the two songs that already are. Chew Lips and Marina seem to have a lot more to play with in this department.

For example, based on the one-line success of 'Hollywood' (actually my name's Marina), The Outsider seems a pretty obvious choice, though I'm not entirely sure how you get 'I'm a fucking wildcard' past the daytime radio censors. Plus despite (or maybe due to) it's time on myspace, Chew Lips could do pretty well with 'Toro' after they've finished releasing Karen. Provided either of these two still aim to release more singles (but then it is pre-festival season so it'd be pretty stupid to not release any at all. . . .).

This is basically due to the fact that these two albums pick up in the middle. I mean Marina even gets better at the end, which I find is pretty rare for an album these days (I mean if the first half is shit why listen to the rest?). But then the whole 'album' thing is different now, so I guess it doesn't really matter which half is better anymore. Ellie on the other hand just kind of passes by. Either I listen without really listening and swap albums pretty quick when it's done, or I swap half way through cos I decide it's not what I want to listen to anymore.

It's not a bad album. It's just not my thing. It's just pure pop. Whereas Chew Lips have got the whole electro thing working pretty well, and Marina is just a different take on things, Ellie is just mainstream pop. There's a song in the middle that IS Natasha Beddingfield's 'Unwritten' written for 2010. In fact if Natasha Beddingfield makes a come back this year, I reckon her and Ellie Goulding will be pretty inseparable. Which is a good thing. If you liked Natasha Beddingfield. . . . Then again I did admit to myself last year that, good as she is, Ellie Gulding isn't' really my thing. I just got distracted by how catchy Starry Eyed is, and how much I LOVE the Sam Sparrow cover.

In fact I was kinda disappointed that wasn't on the album. A bit like Marina's 'Seventeen', or Chew Lips' 'Salt Air'. I know I say it a lot, but that song is soooo good. And it's not like it wouldn't have fitted on the album. It would have slotted in perfectly. Then again, the fact the album can stand on it's own without some of the previous singles says a lot for how good Unicorn is as an album. The lyrics from it just stay in my head.

Which seems pretty typical from this album. They don't necessarily speak to me as lyrics (as in I don't feel the need to run to my dad and demand he dedicate an entire corner of the quotes wall in our lounge - don't ask - just to them), but they stay in my head, in a good way, for days afterwards. Makes you think about them. I like this. I like an album that you're still thinking about when you're done listening. To be honest I couldn't tell you any of the Ellie Goulding lyrics off the top of my head, except the ones I already knew. But in fairness I have only owned this album for a week (compared to at least a month for the other two). The Marina lyrics fluctuate. There's the weird 'Like a goldfish stuck inside my petri dish'?), the awful ('Not ladylike to behave like a slime' - a slime? Really? Was there no better rhyme at all? Child maybe?) and then there are the ones that are pretty damn accurate. In fact there's a far too many moments in this album that describe me. It's unnerving.

Overall I gotta say it's the Marina album that has made the biggest impression, and it's the Chew Lips album that has held my heart. Ellie's just kind of trailing behind in the world of 'not my thing'. But for the rest of you; Chew Lips is the hidden gem, one for the electro lovers, Ellie is for the girls, to be listened to whilst getting ready for hen nights and talking about your 'true love' and Marina is pop, for people who like music 'with a twist'. Buy at your discretion.

OMG Gaga.

2010-03-12T10:00:00.003Z

You can't let this one escape. Give it a few hours and you'll wish you could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ95z6ywcBY&feature=

Seriously, I mean that youtube code alone is already a WORLDWIDE trending topic (on twitter). That's how inescapable it's gonna be.

Plus there's so much to say!

It's crazy, weird, epic, long, ego-driven madness.

First a couple of issues;

1) Is that actually Ke$ha in the bitch jail? Would make sense.

2) Can we really believe Gaga doesn't have a dick just cos there's a close up blurred out shot of down there? I mean they've edited it to blur it, so why not edit it to make it look like there's no dick? :p

3) How much do you reckon Virgin paid for that product placement?

But ok, lets get into it. This video makes out like its a whole film (saying that for a music video it is epically long - 9 1/2 mins). Then there's the outfits. Cigarette sunglasses, yellow tape dresses, majorly Amy Winehouse eyes, it's VERY Gaga. There's dance routines galore and yet actually the story line doesn't really fit the song that much. . . . I mean considering you've waited 3 minutes already for it to start (and already seen various fights, girl on girl action, and ridiculous amounts of nudity for a popstar loved by young children), the first few lines actually don't fit the story. It just seems weird. And makes the song seem shit. Which it's not. Ok the concept is a bit simple, but it's clever in that it's different. Plus who cares its Beyonce AND Gaga. Immense. Still, given the hype for this video, I'd have expected a little bit more. Sorry.

Anyway, if you kinda pretend the song and the video are different, then the video is still a topic on it's own. Beyonce turns up (with something that looks like, and probably is knowing Gaga, a bra on her head) and it goes a bit Thelma and Louise. But as if they were driving through wonderland, rather than the US desertscape. By this point there's no way your taking it seriously. I am actually laughing at parts. There's about 6 different ideas now pushed into the same story, and your kinda at a stage where you just accept it. It's like someone took Gwen Stefani, and took away her boundaries.

The final dance scene though is kinda what I expected. Beyonce and Gaga dancing in full USA flag gettup, looking pretty hot, and occasional focus on one or the other as they sing their part. Then its right dash right back to the 'pussy wagon' (honest) as they escape their fate. I guess there will be a suitable for TV four minute version, which will probably be a bit more muted, you know, just the dance scenes. But saying that, this is Gaga. I wouldn't be surprised if there's about eight more crazy-ass videos released to 'suit her mood'. I guess we wait and see.

Bang Bang the Drums

2010-02-26T17:00:00.002Z

First of all, I have spent at least six hours a day watching the Winter Olympics in the last two weeks. Somehow I have also found time to work/eat/sleep. My music listening may have suffered. But it has been fun.

Anyway between all of this I hit my first gig of the year (I can't believe it's taken this long) on Monday night; The Drums.

We got there. It was sold outish. We got in somehow. It's irrelevant. The support act were on. I think they may have been called Funeral Party. Now I'm sorry but as a woman I will judge you by your appearance when I first meet you. I'll just change my mind once I get to know you. Fact. Anyway these guys looked like a group of Mexican immigrants who'd just learnt how to grow facial hair, and were, therefore, supporting an interesting collection of bum fluff (not that dissimilar from the slightly mocking 'taches seen on the French men's half pipe team). Anyway from my notes on the gig ('cos I'm all posh and proper and take notes now) I have written the words 'fluid drum Ibiza keys'. I think this refers to the pretty cool drum beat on one of their songs, and the tendency to use an Ibiza style one-chord-perfectly-timed-and-repeated-approximately-every-30-seconds keyboard/synth riff over the top of the rest of the music. Either way I don't really remember a lot about them. So I guess they weren't as impressive as their facial hair.

What I do remember is how AMAZINGLY STONED the Drums looked when they finally made an appearance. Now I know it's pretty rare to see any band perform live sober, but I think these guys had been hanging with Pete Doherty back stage. My futile attempts at staring competitions with the lead singer were lost on every occasion. I'm not even sure he blinked at all, just closed his eyes for moments of deep personal reflection whilst singing occasionally.

And that's nothing. The guitarist went absolutely ape-shit on his tambourine during the second song/next single 'Best Friend'. Ape-shit. But it was pretty funny, and actually got the crowd into the gig pretty well from that point. Which was impressive because I think about 90% of the people who were there suddenly realised that the only thing they new about the Drums was that they were a band. I'd say less than half recognised any songs, and it was only the other 10% that actually new enough lyrics to sing along. Or maybe people in Southampton are just shy.

So anyway, despite not a huge amount of participation, there was a pretty good amount of audience appreciation, especially for the mime-inspired dance moves thrown by the singer (who definitely believed he was actually in the 60s for the entire gig). Due to being a hell of a lot more sober than the band, I have no idea if they were aware the audience were there or not, but either way, the audience seemed to have a pretty good time. Though I still have no idea if they ever turned up to do their encore or not.

So all in all I'd say the Drums must have something in order to keep a more-interested-than-fanatic, albeit sold out, audience entertained in their obviously intoxicated state. That's a pretty impressive achievement. I may not be rushing out to see every remaining date on their tour, but I'll probably hit them up again next time their in town. For a band who only performed their first UK gig about 6 months ago (and their first gig ever not long before that I don't think), I'd say they're growing quite well. Expect to hear more.

Hip Hops Crowning Glory

2010-02-21T12:32:00.003Z

I did a post a couple of months ago on hip-hop type stuff. I called it 'this is why white girls don't talk rap' or something like that. I'd like to point out that that rule still applies (for me at least), but that these names come with some pretty good recommendation so listen up.

First of all - the newbies, who may or may not be one hit wonders;

Tinie Tempah - From one of the London scenes (either N-Dubz/Tinchy Stryder or the more Wiley side, I can't remember), his song, with its double time break at the end, has been going pretty hard on the dancefloors I've been on recently. Probably one to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzvGKas5RsU

Twizzle - WILL GET STUCK IN YOUR HEAD. Now I'd say of the two, Twizzle is the more likely to be a one-hit-wonder, but it's also the better song. Listen, love, and recommend to friends so you don't sound quite so stupid singing the chorus to yourself, as you inevitably will be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_aVToZN_k8

Then there's the guys who come highly recommended;

Giggs - Up there in loads of 'ones to watch' lists at the start of the year, Giggs looks set to remain just below the mainstream for a little bit longer. But that said, his fan-base looks set to grow pretty rapidly, and he'll probably end up doing a Kings of Leon (hitting the mainstream gradually just 'cos his fanbase keeps growing so much) some point in the next year or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuI2_pjDlM

B.O.B. - A recommendation from my much more urban-minded brother and collaborator with Giggs on the song above. I can't say I know that much yet, but my brother tends to have a pretty good ear for these things, so I won't rule him out of any potential success.

(awaiting link)

The girls;

Envy - Probably been compared to/will be compared to Lady Sovereign more than is necessary, this tip came from another non-hip hop head, which probably says more than a top tip from someone who listens to this stuff day in day out. A name I'd heard but not listened to till this week, her album comes out next month, so the hype should pick up a bit leading into the summer. There's definitely something there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCnpd0YvB84

Goldielocks - Any collab. with Benga looks pretty good to me, and this is probably on the edge enough to start making waves in the ever-growing dubstep scene. It's probably not strictly hip-hop (ok it's probably not that hip-hop at all) but it still requires your full attention. Listen up, stick with it, and expect to slowly love it more and more. ~~That middle eight is immense, and that's more the fault of Goldielocks than Benga.~~ Update: This track isn't actually even with Benga. That's adifferent song. Plus it makes this one even more impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Vt9KNvIIg&feature=related

The remixes;

Chiddy Bang - This tip's a bit late, but I don't think I've blogged about it yet. Pretty marmite over that Kids sample, I think it's a fresh take, that deserves the fame it's finding. Needs to find more dancefloors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbk16dKSGGA

Dead Prez (Adam F and DJ Fresh) - So this song has been around for ages, so I finally realised I own at least one version of it, so it's totally trying to cash in on the Dubstep phenomenon, SO WHAT? It's amazing, squelchy, bassy, dancy, awesomeness in less than four minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeDOWLVWb-M

The Americans;

Theopilus London - This song always fits my mood. It's just such a great fusion of hip-hop, beats and vocalised chorus, everytime I hear it there's a massive smile on my face. Not only that but this guy has some other amazing songs ready to unleash on the world. If he's not got his Godlike Jay-Z status within the next five years something truly bad and upsetting will have happened. Your new favourite New Yorker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gypiIfMJYro

Nas and Damian Marley - A history of great collaborations, it's a shame Damian Marley hasn't made a greater dent in the pop-music scene. (Despite me and my dads best efforts in constantly quoting lines from Welcome to Jamrock to each other.) And yes he is an actual Bob decendent. Anyway the beat on this should draw in even the most cautious of Hip Hop lovers. It will soundtrack my summer, but I hope this time it soundtracks a few more than just that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgmbaQv3fCw

and the just plain different;

Die Antwoord - God the media hype over this band has gone mental in the last week or so. And even more impressive considering they only starting making waves at the start of the month. Is it a hoax? Is it for real? Is 'zef' even a real music scene? (and do we really need to see the pink floyd boxers [one min in]?) Either way, they'e damn sure made a name for themselves, and Enter the Ninja is damn sure ready to be a internet success. Do not write them off. This name will be on people's lips for a long time yet. They've only just started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc3f4xU_FfQ

Professor Green - In my opinion he sounds like he's rapping on something not too dissimilar helium. But it's new, it's different and considering he's just off tour with Lily Allen, he's set to start making more waves. I think his marmite appeal could cause problems, but there are some pretty heavy songs in his arsenal and this new track, complete with INXS sample, could be the stepping stone he needs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2010/02/hottest_record_professor_green.html (sorry it's only a clip)

As I said, it's not my scene, but you can't ignore it, and some of these songs are definitely getting pretty high hit numbers on my playlist. It's all about listening to what you're hearing, so LISTEN UP!

Under Pressure

2010-02-12T15:29:00.002Z

I've been trying to work out recently what my best area of music is. From the age of about 6 onwards it was rock. Alt rock, punk rock, indie rock, brit pop, a bit of rockabilly/psycho-billy/rockandroll. That kinda thing. It was what I knew, what I loved, what I'd been brought up on. But recently it's becoming clear that I'm drifting. I mean I can still tell you more than you need to know about new indie bands, which Clash album is the best (this debate started at Christmas in my family and is still on going), etc etc but I just don't think it's my thing anymore.

Then after a discussion the other day in my Italian class, about music trends in the young Italian population (I swear this is actually the kind of thing we study), we started talking about our own music habits. Suddenly the teacher decides, as there's still half an hour of the lesson, wouldn't it be good if we all went up to the computer, went on youtube and picked ONE song to play to the rest of the class to sum up OUR musical tastes. Do you realise how much pressure that put me under?! How do you pick one song to represent your entire musical taste, that the rest of the class is then actually expected to judge you on? (Especially when I know for a fact my favourite song of all time isn't even on youtube.) It was horrible.

I mean was I supposed to champion some new band that I was in love with, reveal a guilty pop pleasure that the class might actually have heard of, bring up some bizarre foreign language electro outfit to gain the bonus 'I study languages AND I listen to foreign music' points, or go for a classic tune from my youth? In which case which of the million songs that fit these categories do I then pick? ARGHHHHH! I watched people going up to the computer, nervous, trying to find a song, sitting down sheepishly, waiting for the judgement. Then, answering questions on that song IN ITALIAN, while everyone else starts whispering to each other about what they think. I tell you it was horrible. Plus I'm trying to deal with the fact that I am no longer an indie queen and in fact becoming an electro champion. It's too much! :p

But in the end I found a song. I played it. I sat down. I answered the questions (in very bad Italian). And noone really said anything (which is actually a good thing in my class). So it wasn't too bad after all. Still, I can't help thinking about what else I could have played. I mean can you really think of ONE song to sum up all your music tastes (not your favourite song, a song that generally represents everything you listen to) in ten minutes? I challenge you! (And if you decide to comment your ideas I promise to check it out, though I probably won't make you answer questions in Italian.)

the festival season is coming. . .

2010-02-05T20:18:00.002Z

I actually made notes this week I have so much to say.

First of all I picked up the new ChewLips and Marina and the Diamond albums for a fiver each. I think they are still available on the amazon and zavvi websites for those prices respectively. I definitely recommend (I mean technically the Marina one is on preorder - but like I said at the start of the year, she will be huge, so if you like her get in while stocks last!) I might do a kinda comparsion review once I own both?

Plus one of the other bands I tipped, Don't Wait Animate, are in the process of covering Ghost Town by the specials which should be pretty cool. Will suit them well I reckon.

I found a place to stream the new Knife album after last week, although I haven't actually listened to it yet. http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/13800-itomorrow-in-a-yeari/. I'll post more on both (The Knife and DWA) when I actually hear them.

Meanwhile, Radio 1 have announced that they are about to start broadcasting the mid-week charts (something formally reserved for professional journalist/music management etc eyes only) on Wednesday afternoons. Sounds interesting but we'll see how it goes when it starts in a few weeks time. Whereas the future of 6Music could be in doubt, if you believe the news, due to funding issues or something.

Plus there's a couple of videos worth looking at. The first is from another new band, Two Door Cinema Club, which although not amazing (and looks a little bit too much like this) is a pretty good song, from another band tipped by various circles. However the new Massive Attack Video is INCREDIBLE and needs attention. I don't think I blinked for five minutes the first time I saw it. It just draws you in.

However the biggest news has been the various twitter rumours/actual announcements for the summer's festivals.

- Muse are pretty much certain for glasto, with Stevie Wonder a maybe for the Sunday. Plus various other smaller bands have started to self confirm.

- The not-so-newly reformed Blink-182 have been hinting at reading/leeds slots.

- Rob da Bank has announced the first few members of the Bestival line-up, which is starting to look pretty impressive (http://www.bestival.net/) and has also been hinting that there is more to come.

- Florence is due on immediately before Jay-Z at the Isle of Wight, another line-up that's keeps getting more impressive for a 'medium sized' festival, and

- Download is looking at AC/DC and Them Crooked Vultures amongst others

So it seems like there's something for everyone out there!

I personally am off to buy some new novelty wellies/sunglasses and reacclimatise myself to the mud. In fact, if I started walking now . . . . .

Bring Back the Knife

2010-01-29T13:01:00.003Z

Ok I didn't blog last week. I had real work and stuff. Pretend I was ranting about something, possibly Owl City. There we go, it's like I never went away.

Anyway, I was away celebrating my week of hard work this week. So kinda haven't really had my ears out as much. However I did find out that Asylum in Hull seems to run a rock-disco night on its biggest club night (you know Linkin Park, metal/pop/rock crossover type stuff). Well from what I remember it was like that.

Coming back to the real world though and I've got four/five days worth of news, new videos, and stuff to trawl through. I guess I'm half way through it. Yawn. :P Anyway it seems like there was a lot of buzz for this. It's when I realised I don't actually know what Fever Ray looks like in real life. So what with all the increased attention, plus that new song that got put out the other week and some promo maybe about a Darwin themed opera (?) I'm kinda hoping the Knife will be out on the tour circuit this summer. And that makes me super-excited.

Saying that, I've still not worked out who I'm gonna see the most times this year. (Last year it was Florence, the year before the Subways etc) To be honest I've normally seen at least one live gig by the end of January, and I don't even have tickets for anything yet. . . Though major gig season will be over the summer so I guess it's not too late to try and top my 'four times in 6 months' gig record for the same band/artist.

I did think this year would be all about Chew Lips. There's also loads of press on them at the minute seeing as their album came out this week, which by most reviews is pretty good (even though I won't let that dictate my life this year, and I still can't ignore the fact Salt Air is missing). I think what I'm really saying is I need to get excited again, and although there's lots of stuff I like, I don't think I've really found my scene yet this year. It's ok though, 'cos there's still eleven months to go. And everyone has a tip for me to try out. :)

A Look Ahead to the Week just Passed

2010-01-15T19:03:00.004Z

Ok I almost definitely missed about a million other things on my list last week, Joy Orbison, Giggs, articles on 'the demise of Dubstep' or 'what now for dubstep' type themes implying that its all already over (I don't think it is, but I bet at least one magazine/online publication will run a feature on it) but who cares? If they're good enough I'll do a whole post on them. Maybe.

Instead I thought I'd talk about things I'm looking forward to this year; a deep intellectual journey through expected albums, promising festivals, and new directions for the music industry. Yeah right! We're like a month into the new year now, people really don't want to look ahead any more. They want the right now.

So I guess this week for me in music has been three things; Vampire Weekend, Sound Cloud and the New M.I.A. song.

First off, Vampire Weekend have been celebrating the release of their second album (which I might actually get hold of in the sales about this time next year maybe?) with various live gigs, interviews etc. I'd have more to say about this if I'd actually been to any of them. Instead all I know is that the gigs were small, but good, with fans queueing up outside, Emily Eavis wants them at glasto on the Friday (whoop whoop!) and people keep reckoning they are going to be huge this year and move 'out from Indie into stardom' that oh-so-wonderful future predicted to any band who might actually sell a few more copies of this album than their last one because they have the fanbase already set up this time.

I'll make that clearer. I'm not annoyed at the fact Vampire Weekend are going to be more successful, in fact I'm happy for them, I just HATE that kind of analogy. Someone posted a tweet this week about stopping journalists using the word 'sophomore' unless actually referring to that year of education in America. I would like to add to this that all journalists should be banned from using the phrase 'should catapult them to (pop) stardom' once a band is close to hitting the mainstream. That's kinda how most of the successful indie bands work. We get that they are getting bigger, and to be honest it's generally 'cos they're good, so please stop telling us they are about to get bigger, we could of guessed that ourselves. (Or find a new way of saying it.)

Anyway rant over. I found a new music site this week. It's called 'Soundcloud' (http://soundcloud.com/) but tbh I don't think I've used it fully yet. Anyway bands I like keep posting songs, remixes etc on it so that's good for me, and I therefore recommend you check it out to see if any bands you like use it. I'd say maybe it's a cross between myspace and twitter? Maybe. Anyway there's enough other options out there that if you don't like it, it's not the end of the world. :)

Finally there's a new M.I.A. track/video floating around. I didn't like it. It's not like her other stuff enough. But people kept telling me how amazing it was (I've gotta be honest it was the kind of people who talk about music ALL the time, and often are slightly pretentious about it) so I listened a few more times. It's minimal electronica, it's alright, the video is shit and overall it's nothing special. But I bet in a months time I love it, cos people keep telling me it's amazing and I'm just being brainwashed into listening to it enough to make it 'neutral' and then eventually love it. So from now on, I am going to try and not be swayed by the majority opinion. I stuck with it for Glasvegas (but that wasn't hard they are REALLY shit) so I know I can do it. And I think my first challenge will be maintaining to hate Uffy. Don't even get me started on that!

Anyway Happy Friday, sorry for the rant, and feel free to tell me I'm wrong. :)

Sound of 2010

2010-01-08T16:12:00.003Z

The final result of the BBC pole came out today and they're predicting big things for. . . Ellie Goulding! Surprise Surprise. It's not that this is an unjust opinion. Ellie's pretty good and will be pretty big, it's just that seems to be the only name anyone has been passing around since the end of the summer. Expect people to stop liking her because 'she's famous now' but to be generally providing good pop songs.

Ellie Goulding - Under the Sheets

Here are a few of the others I've been hearing/think you should hear (in no particular order);

Hurts - Praised for their lyrics and/or return to the eighties, Hurts came forth in the pole, despite having no real album/single release dates/details. Expect constant through-backs to music in the 'other recession' (the one in the eighties).

Hurts - Wonderful Life (Arthur Baker Remix)

Marina and the Diamonds - Saw her live and she's amazing. Worth the hype. Lyrics are really true and the vocals are excellent. Try 'Obsessions' and 'Hollywood' (Acoustic). Expect comparisons to Florence and the Machine etc.

Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood

Delphic - Britain's newest dance troupe who have had comparisons drawn to Hot Chip and the Big Pink. Expect arty videos and remixes (either of or by the band).

Delphic - Doubt

Yeasayer - Massive indie following the first time round, they kind of passed me over. However if their newest single is anything to go by they'll definitely be improving their position. Expect NSFW (not safe for work) videos and pages and pages of live reviews.

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

The Drums - American surf rock. First heard a demo on Steve Lamaq's show at the end of the summer, instantly hooked. Expect them to be big at the festivals and to forefront the 'rebirth of surfer rock'. Whatever that means.

The Drums - Lets Go Surfing

Esmee Denters - Dutch (?) pop sensation set to take over the radio, and probably pop TV channels. You'll know the name by the summer. Expect lots of Celebrity gossip, and for her to play/arrange some big high profile shows by the end of the year.

Esmee Denters - Admit It

Chew Lips - Seem to be a critics favourite, I don't think there's been enough hype for the synth pop three piece. Another good live band, I still haven't stopped listening to 'salt air'. Expect marmite reactions and a subconscious intrusion into what you're listening to. (A bit like what Friendly Fires did).

Chew Lips - Play Together

Everything Everything - The rising band from the festival season, the key word seems to be 'quirky'. Some pretty impressive videos for a non-major band, but I can't work out how they'll reach a bigger audience. Expect to you hear the name quoted as a way of showing 'underground' indie credentials.

Everything Everything - Photoshop Handsome

Emika - I don't actually care about anything else, 'Drop the Other' is already my favourite song of the year. Can't wait to hear more. A german based dub-step singer/producer, and that's about all I know. Expect her to be one of the names brought up when people talk about Dubstep hitting the main stream.

Emika - Drop the Other

Don't Wait Animate - A tip from rough trade shops last summer, it was the first song I played (and at top volume) when I moved into halls. A clash between indie and dubstep (expect to hear this description of them A LOT), they should see big things once they reach their audience.

Don't Wait Animate - 6174

Frankie and the Heartstrings - Nice new addition to the 'someone and the somethings' collection. I don't think I've heard enough of them yet but I like what I have heard. Expect lots of 'I heard them before they were famous' claims from people who probably only heard them about a week before you or saw them supporting someone else without knowing who they were first.

Frankie and the Heartstrings - Hunger (it's the first video, I've no idea how long it will be available for. . . )

The Midnight Beast - The new reincarnation of The Clik Clik (worth a listen at least) this band have produced 3 excellent pop parodies in as many weeks. Expect much virtual success, and a huge internet following. (Nearly one million views already. . .)

Midnight Beast - Tiktok (Ke$ha Parody)

And here are my other predictions for the year ahead;

The world's most annoying popstar of the year award will probably go to Justin Beiber the 16 year old guitar wielding Canadian who will be this years Miley Cyrus.

Failing that the English female equivalent Daisy Dares You, will fill a similar hole.

Owl City will be hugely successful with 'fireflies' until we've all heard it far too much. They will either not quite reach the same heights again or will rerelease it as many times as necessary to finally get it in the top 10.

The large number of 'new' British artists out there mean that after the 'bands of 2010' issues most magazines will publish a 'best of British' issue, possibly coinciding this with the Brits.

Large amounts of literature will also focus on 'the rise of the female popstar' featuring 'introducing' sections on Ellie Goulding, Marina etc as well as features discussing what they're going to do now with Florence, Little Boots et al.

Simon Cowell will either announce a massive change to X-Factor or the last ever series, only for it to be replaced a year later by a very similar format with a new name.

The XX will win the mercury music prize. Or they will be bookies favourite, thereby ruining their chances due to the unspoken 'Favourites never win' rule.

And finally.... I'm not a big film buff so I could be wrong, but the new Nicholas Cage film 'Kick Ass' will probably overtake the twittersphere if the adverts are anything to go by. (Try searching youtube . . .). However I don't know if this will be because it's amazing, funny for the wrong reasons, or because it doesn't meet expectations.

Anyway I'll keep this post and we'll see how many I get right! (Or terribly wrong).

Happy New Year!

No no you're Catherine Zeta, Actually my name's Marina

2009-11-30T21:22:00.002Z

I love Marina (as in Marina and the Diamonds), so much so that if I start to type 'myspace' in the search bar, her myspace URL (http://www.myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds) comes up as the first suggestion (as in before Myspace.com).

I think it started sometime in the hype before Glastonbury? That performance definitely helped at least. It was certainly memorable, if only for the last song, where, after moving to the back of the stage as if preparing for some deeply emotional ballad, she promptly turned around and shouted 'cuckoo' at us all.

Turns out that was Mowgli's Road, and that's actually how its starts. Its also a song which didn't become any less weird when the video arrived last month. Unusual right? It's a good song though. Probably why it made it to the daytime playlist on radio 1.

Anyway, the new one showed up today. Hollywood. I think I like it. Is that good enough? I mean I listened to it twice in a row which is rare, but I think I was still trying to get my head round it. The song's good, the video really suits it I think I just have a problem with the over singing at the start (first verse)? Or maybe it just sounds like over singing? I don't know. I also don't like a couple of the costumes (ok I'm fussy I'll accept that).

I love the lyrics. They're scarily true. 'I'm obsessed with the mess that's America'. Even if that doesn't apply to me, I can easily think of a load of people that could apply too. And the video picks on the sickly-sweet theme really well. Its fucking US flags overload. Really well shot and put together as well.

Arghh! I can't make up my mind. I think I'm just refusing to accept I love it. Finding flaws on purpose. I'm only really picky when something is close to perfection (or I'm dissing my brother - who damn sure isn't close to perfection), and I'm pretty sure Marina isn't my brother. :s

Oh well, I still love her. Bring on the album. Sorry for the ramblingness. Just watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VTcJfL7RE&feature=channel

CHEW LiPS

2009-11-27T16:56:00.003Z

So last night me and a friend took a trip into the 'real' Southampton for a night out. Well, we meant to. We started at Ikea, got kicked out for arriving at the bar too early and finished with Cheaper by the Dozen, so we weren't really that successful.

Anyhow somewhere in the middle we ended up where we wanted to be. Watching Chew Lips at Lennons, having spent an hour in the pub across the road trying to work out if we were sat next to them or not. In all fairness, Tigs spent the entire time sat with her hood up, which should have been a clue, as we were inside.

Anyway, sometime after just after midnight, we're inside the bar (finally) and the set's just kicking off. Tigs comes on stage with some kind of arrows on her face (like wtf?) that actually seemed to make sense by the end of the night, and we get introduced to James (the one who I thought I recognised, but didn't know his name till this point) and we finally realise we were right.

Its a good show. The beats are good, the vocals a bit quiet, but whatever, and everyone's moving around on stage, while the mainly more-than-drunk crowd are bouncing around and half singing along to the songs. I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere or the stage presence but it seemed really easy to get into, without being really in your face over-electro. Having spent my whole summer in love with the song 'Salt Air', I was in heaven hearing it live, and the band seemed pretty happy that the crowd knew the words. Closer 'Solo' went down just as well.

I'll be honest I had an awesome time (even if the set was pretty short) and am still trying to work out if I'm a little bit in love with Tigs more than I'm a little bit in love with Florence as a front woman? But, there was talk of a return in January, and I'm determined to be there. Until then I'll spend my time being obsessed by the songs posted on myspace (that seem to be only allowed to begin with the letter 's'? http://www.myspace.com/chewlips), waiting for the album and trying to get the fucking rabbit stamp of my hand. Grrr.

RIP The Rakes

2009-10-22T16:14:00.002+01:00

I was so sad today I had to blog. THE RAKES HAVE SPLIT UP! Noooooooooo! I'm actually really close to tears. I thought I was sad when BYOP split, but actually I was just pissed off. This has made me really sad. http://www.nme.com/news/the-rakes/47980

The article actually made me shiver. The Rakes weren't ever a massive band but they were amazing. They didn't look like a band, but they had the sound spot on. And I can listen to their first album as much as I like without getting bored, which says a lot for me.

But nothing lasts forever so I'm going to play '22 Grand Job' a couple more times to night then try and move on. :'(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flESd2vFXy4&feature=related

You've Got The Love

2009-10-03T17:11:00.002+01:00

Ok, I know I talk about it a lot so I'll shut up for a while after this, but I think I have found another great cover version. Even better this is a cover of a cover, by the band I won't shut up about, The XX.

So it's been generating all this Twitter hype, and I finally got to hear it on Wednesday, on Zane Lowe's radio show. I didn't like it. At all.

But now, I'm listening in my headphones and it's really good. It's really pretty, and really Florence-y and XX-y at the same time. Well, by Florence-y I mean there are harps. But that's kinda what she's associated with so, that means it counts as keeping it true to the original (if not actually her song) ethic. The xylophones are a bit weird, probably why I didn't like it before, but they really work in the intimateness of my headphones.

They've also rerecorded the vocal, so that it counts as a COVER rather than a remix, (I may have already had this argument with one of my flatmates - I will warn you, you won't win) which is probably another reason I didn't like it before, because obviously Flo's voice is amazing and can't be covered. :P

But having spun the whole one-eighty I now love this song and am going to listen to it again. And I don't care what you say, I think it's a great cover but a crappy remix. So lets all pretend it's a cover :P.

Southampton

2009-09-28T09:47:00.002+01:00

You know what? It's not too bad here, and I even found a couple of DJ nights where they actually played dubstep. Woop woop. Ok so I may have unintentionally seen the same DJ at two different venues, but I still think it counts. Plus he played some awesome songs, even if the dubstep was almost mainstream.

This did however lead to the unintentionally showing-how-many-songs-I-know-all-the-words-to lip-syncing dancing that my new flatmates will probably have to get used to. So far they're impressed, I can't see that lasting. They also got quite into the whole dubstep/drum 'N' bass/grime section of the night, so I think we'll get on just fine!

I will however, shoot the DJ, if he plays Body Rox 'Yeah Yeah' or Chase and Status 'Snoop Dog Millionaire' without the lyrics again. Also someone needs to sync the screens better at the Cube (on campus club), throughout the whole of Saturday night they just showed a loop of the Eric Prydz 'Call on Me' video, some Tina Turner (I think?) footage, and adverts for upcoming club nights. It was a bit weird, and noone played any Eric Prydz at all. Hmmm.

But if that's all I have to complain about - it can't be that bad. I'll keep my ears peeled and let you know what else I hear down here.

Lily Allen?

2009-09-24T22:20:00.002+01:00

Ok I'm not in band or anything, but even I know that the whole file-sharing debate that's raging at the minute is going to make some MASSIVE changes. Or it's all going to peter out with people taking different sides and just agreeing to see things differently only for it all to be brought up again in 12 months time.

Personally, I don't download illegally. I don't think it's worth it particularly. Plus I'm far too much of a fan of cover art to download much anyway. Saying that though, I've not spent more than £7 on an album in the last three years. I'm also a cheapskate.

However I can kinda understand why you would download illegally. The restrictions on itunes drive me insane. It's taken me the entire day just to transfer my library to my new craptop for uni. And there are still problems. My brother has spent the last five hours telling me I might as well do it all through [insert name of illegal downloading site here] and it would be much easier. But I've listened to his ipod and some of those songs are beyond crap. In sound and musical quality.

Equally, music can cost a fortune. I don't spend more than £7 (and £5 or under if I can), but often I have to wait around for an album to get into these price zones. I spent about 3 years waiting to get hold of the first Yeah Yeah Yeah's album because it was never on sale (or instock when it was). If I'd done it illegally, it would have been a lot quicker.

Not being in a band to most people means downloading illegally shouldn't affect them, except maybe the odd virus or crappy audio. But I think this is just a level of ignorance. Then again, I'm not in the music industry so I have no idea how record labels etc make their money, and how over/under hyped this whole situation is.

I do however think there is a compromise out there. For example, if you're not using spotify (or at least youtube and myspace) to stream music online you're probably an idiot. And in all fairness, how much of your music do you need to carry around with you? I spend loads of time listening to bands I don't own online, whilst on the computer, and those I do own whilst commuting etc, and normally this doesn't affect me. If anything it helps me research bands more easily. Plus, if I really do want to own an album and carry it with me everywhere, I'm patient enough to keep listening to it online whilst I'm waiting. I just keep a very long list with me of what I'm looking for.

So for me, I'm sorted. I can still research and experience music for free, and when I do decide I want to keep it, I pay a fair price. But I'm not saying that's everyone's cup of tea. But I'm not sure one group of people can ever find a solution to suit everyone, even if they can create a few that make things better.

Screw It. I <3 Florence.

2009-09-22T18:31:00.004+01:00

It's taken me over two hours to read through all the news I missed just on Twitter over the last couple of days so I'm gonna wipe them from existence (do your own research). Basically Muse messed with the Italians (my Italian mates can't decide if they think its funny or not), The Drums gig I couldn't get to was awesome (even Boy George thinks so), one band have been grabbing headlines for their split (of course I mean Chas 'n' Dave), and the New York Times have tackled 'Dubstep'. Most of its on NME/Pitchfork sites.

Anyway I missed all of this 'cos I was taking ridiculously long-winded journeys around the country to catch my FORTH Florence and the Machine gig this year, in Leeds. (I saw 4 different cities yesterday getting there. . .ugh). It's my own fault for being too skint to buy the Birmingham tix before they sold out.

Luckily, the set list has changed, unluckily, when Florence walked out to 'Kiss with a Fist' she was wearing a floor length skirt. I'm sorry where are the legs? Oh, there's an amazing slit down the skirt that leads to pics like this (http://twitpic.com/ionw3) nice. Though despite at least two occasions of the skirt getting caught on the mic stand, there was a disappointing lack of the mic getting tangled up and the amazingly hot roadie coming to the rescue. =(

There was however lots to be happy about. 'Birdsong' is back in the set (yes!), and 'I'm Not Calling You A Liar' and 'Hurricane Drunk' have become part of their own acoustic mini-set (even if I did miss this because I was at the bar). It sounded very good though. Also the keyboardist is now blond, which should hopefully avoid the 'OMG Florence is ON the stage - no wait that's the keyboardist' confusion I went through the first couple of times. AND the encore is totally mixed up, with an a cappella version of the Etta James song that got her signed (wow), 'You've Got The Love' (and someone did actually give her 'the love') and THEN 'Rabbit Heart' (cue drunken balcony dance off).

Though to make up for the additions, Girl With One Eye has vanished from the set, and (though I may be wrong) I have a feeling Florence was almost close to sober. I only got 4 drunk counts (for example nearly losing balance when swaying etc), and I'm pretty sure 3 of those don't even count! One of them was the amazingly over dramatic collapse at the end of 'Between Two Lungs' (a full, head back, leaning over, hitting the floor episode), which proved Flo to be ever the performer, even if there was also no crowd surfing/falling of the stage this time.

My personal belief is this was due to the uncannily white haired man in the front row we dubbed 'Bus Pass', who spent most of the gig half conducting (index-fingers pointed shoulder-level moshing) from the front bar, and was actually almost amusing as what was happening on stage. My mate tried to get his autograph, but we couldn't find him afterwards. Shame. =(

Other than that, it was business as usual. 'Cosmic Love' was prefaced with the whole 'I love this song etc' intro it always gets, and was, as always, amazingly beautiful live. 'Howl' started a whole audience 'Howl-off' and the audience were quite happy to jump their way through the singles. And of course, the absolute highlight was another epic version of 'Blinding' that as well as closing the set (pre encore of course) ended on an amazing skirt-held-high-lights-flashing-drums-beating-Florence-screaming mega moment that is just so much more reassuring than the pitiful breath in it ends with on record. Now I remember why that song disappointed me when it wasn't live. It's just got an unrecordable atmosphere that would turn even the most anti-Flomo music lover on a full 180.

So, although I didn't see her in the chippy afterwards, was in a crap position (balcony wtf?), am still covered in glitter (I'm pretty sure my dress was made of glitter instead of actual fabric), didn't hear 'Hardest of Hearts' and have spent over 6 hours travelling home, it was totally worth it. Bring on next time.

when things go wrong. . .

2009-09-20T20:02:00.002+01:00

Shit leaving home requires a lot of effort. Luckily I get a day off tomorrow to go see Florence and the Machine (again) and The XX. Nearly lost the tickets though, clever.

In all fairness this isn't the first time I've done this. My dad found out he was living next door to Starsailor's drummer a few years ago and gave him the tickets to get signed. He lost them. But luckily he stuck us on the guest list and it was all good.

I think my favourite music mistake was my radio DJ mate bigging up M.I.A.'s use of another language on 'Jimmy'. The lyrics are in English. And my mate speaks lot of asian languages so she should have known that. Had good fun rubbing that in her face live on air, though. Twice.

My dad (again) is also very bad at lyrics. He spent ten minutes trying to find 'Burn' by Travis on his ipod. I was confused. What do you mean dad? 'You know, "Burn Burn Burn something-or-other time"'. You mean Burn Burn Burn, Burn back time? That great Travis classic also known as TURN. Nice dad, nice. Now just go dad dance in a corner.

I'm not guilt free though. I've inherited my dads talent for getting lyrics wrong. And bands. I had a really in depth conversation about the Guy-From-The-Who's solo album. He was in Pink Floyd. I had to laugh. I still mix up any Def Leppard, Lynrd Skynrd and Thin Lizzy, without fail. And you really don't want to know what I used to sing to Blur's 'Song 2'. Plus I spent ages trying to big up an acoustic artist on a urban based radio show. Fail!

So here's to all those classic mistakes that make us laugh, and finding the tickets exactly where I left them. Cheers.

MUSE!

2009-09-17T21:09:00.003+01:00

Ok I don't own the new album yet, I'm skint. But I've heard a lot of it and it's amazing. Plus today I saw this (http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/muse?$153739$) - the video for Uprising.

I like it, but the inability of my Internet to keep up a continuous showing of the video was irritating to say the least. Especially when Matt is mouthing words about half a second behind the soundtrack. I bet it's good when its all in sync though. Especially the pyrotechnics.

However if, like me, you own a craptop that can't keep up, there is still the footage of muse on Jools Holland the other night (at the start and the end). With a nice helping of the Gossip, Florence and the Machine and some other acts in the middle. Worth a glance at least. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mw0bd/Later_Live..._with_Jools_Holland_Series_35_Episode_1/)

Finally, if you really love muse, you can vote for them at to win a Q award (deceptively they aren't up for best live act this year though =( ). http://awards.qthemusic.com/ - You might even end up at the bash.

More manic mondayness

2009-09-14T21:35:00.002+01:00

Of course you've got to start with the Kanye West MTV Video awards stage invasion during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/13/kanye-west-steals-taylor_n_285198.html) Another MTV stunt? Maybe, but as Annie Mac (who has decided she wants to take over the US (http://soundbleed.com/2009/09/annie-mac-wants-in-on-this-whole-americas-thing-offers-free-mix/)) puts it - he's wearing a leather shirt. Why is this not the real issue people have?

The Drums (an amazing new band) have announced their first UK date on Saturday for FREEEEE! And I can't go. Balls. However if you do want to go and tell me how it is, it's at the Flowerpot in Kentish Town.

Lily Allen has posted her opinions on file sharing via myspace (http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=36707169&blogId=510114316). I haven't read the whole thing yet but I'll get round to it.

Foo Fighters have announced they will release a greatest hits in November including two new songs, whilst Them Crooked Vultures (Dave Grohl's new super-group side project) are still being elusive in the music they release, and seem to have sold out their December tour.

Jay-Z is no longer number one (boooo!) but has finally released The Blueprint Three to a generally good response. So hopefully he'll top the charts again this week.

La Roux has released the video for 'I'm not you're Toy' and it's actually quite impressive. See if you can spot Shameless's Frank Gallagher. (I doubt it's him but it's a split second shot so maybe ;)). http://www.nme.com/video/bcid/40001588001/search/NME

There's a couple of new cover versions around which may force me to change my mind on what I said before. So first off Susan Boyle is going to tackle the Rolling Stones. (http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=121&p=7111) And I found out yesterday there's an awful cover of Nirvana in the film Marley and Me. Eurgh. However there is also a nu-age Band-Aid style cover of The Killer's 'All These Things That I've Done' being released for Warchild which you can find here. (http://www.igotsoul.co.uk/). It's for CHARITY people so you've got to give it your support.

And finally I picked up five albums for under £20 in the HMV sale which I'll gradually get my head round for you, The Grates have nicked my cake recipe (www.thegrates.blogspot.com) and still haven't found the time to release their second album in the UK, and I finally got myspace mail to work so myspace fishing (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/) will soon be back on track.

strike!

2009-09-10T22:48:00.002+01:00

Right I'm not at Bestival this weekend and I'm annoyed about it, so when I'm not working I'll be pretending I am at Bestival by eating fast food, wearing novelty sunglasses and spending longer outside than anyone really needs to, but listening to music.

So if you don't hear from me I'm at 'Bestival'.

Ciao!

Oh and PS how good does this look? I think I need to add it to the list. . . .

http://www.anniemacpresents.com/

9 for the 9th etc

2009-09-09T22:46:00.002+01:00

So now I have my cd money (that should probably go on eating etc at uni), I've started compiling a list of CDs I want to get. Here are 9 for 9/9/09.

1) The XX - The XX

2) Chase and Status - Against All Odds

3) The Dead Weather - Horehound

4) The Grates - Teeth Lost Hearts Won (release it in the UK please).

5) Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

6) Jamie T - Kings and Queens

7) Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles

8) Muse - Resistance

9) (Of course) Speech Debelle - Speech Therapy

It took me five mins to compile this list. That means I've almost definitely missed some. Oops. But if you want to give me any of these (thereby ensuring I can eat at uni) I won't say no ;).

So, er, I was right. . .

2009-09-08T22:45:00.002+01:00

Mercury night (you know the one that no one really knows about but actually affects your music buying/listening patterns because of all the people 'in the know' who are involved?) is in full flow and this year's winner is London artist Speech Debelle. Which is excellent 'cos I put a bet on her to win at odds of 15-1. That's £75 thank you very much!. So I'm way too over excited but I'mma write my opinion anyway 'cos I know you all really care.

First off you gotta respect Speech for turning up in what was effectively a glorified track suit (even if it had the coolest gold London cityscape around the hem of the jacket). Plus her hair was amazing. Which was apparently a double bonus as she'd spent last night having dreams about all her hair being cut off?

LaRoux's Elly Jackson had a typically bright outfit on both the stage and the not-so-red red carpet. And her seemingly favourite Victorian-esque lady pendant was in full view in 6Music's shots from rehearsals this afternoon. (http://twitgoo.com/2uzh5?cx=u).

Though obviously it's not about the outfits or the live performances on the night (apparently Florence and the Invisible were good and the total array of instruments used included accordions and xylophones), even if this is about all we can give our opinion on seeing as us humble record buyers don't make up the selection committee. But if you do care, nme and BBC 6 Music have a good selection of photos/videos.

It is, supposedly, entirely about the music. I somehow don't quite believe this. When one of the judges says 'Speech said earlier she really wanted to win, which obviously we tried not to let influence our decision' it makes you think something fishy is going on. Though Speech had promised to kick and scream if she didn't win in a Metro interview today (which almost made me not want her to win just to see it?), which was probably a least a little bit persuasive. The interview is here (http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?Speech_Debelle:_Im_going_to_win_the_Mercury_Music_Prize&in_article_id=732861&in_page_id=11) and don't forget to note those Michael Jackson comments. That's right - like Jesus.

I also think bookies favourite Florence and the Machine lost out for being too mainstream, which is also not supposed to be a factor but generally is (hence why I bet on Speech). My opinion is if Florence wasn't sooo good live, she'd never be as popular now, (she is kinda quirky) thereby making her the perfect candidate (that album is a-mazing) and she'd have probably won. Therefore (inadvertently) live performance can affect the decision. It is however important to note the bookies almost never get it right on the Mercs.

Finally I'd like to add that as a few of The Horrors are offof Rugby School, that practically makes them offof Rugby, and as Kasabian grew up, like, round the corner from me, that means there were practically two locals in the shortlist. I don't think I'll ever be able to say that again, so I'm pleased for them. Plus you have to check out Tom's (off Kasabian) new hair. Nice. AND Glasvegas didn't even get a mention offof anyone, which makes me ecstatic as they are shit. So that's three reasons for me to be happy.

Right, I might go spend my winnings on some albums. Including Speech Debelle (yep that's right I bet on an album I don't even own - that's intuition.) And as a head's up next years winners will be The XX. No questions.

My Head Hurts

2009-09-07T19:16:00.003+01:00

I didn't disappear I've been ill. The kind of looking-at-screens-gives-me-a-headache-and-I-can't-breath-through-my-nose ill. Lovely.

But it means stuff has happened since I was last online.

There are new tours announced today by Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys and a newly reformed, John Lydon led PiL.

Some people have released new singles after seemingly forever, such as Leona Lewis and Robbie Williams.

They've released the ultimate download chart to celebrate 5 years of downloading (http://www.nme.com/news/nme/47148). AND Jay-Z has got his first Uk number 1. Awesome. =)

And my favourite 'drumnbass hour' at the local nightclub got scrapped for a singalong. This is a good thing. The drumnbass hour was crap. Because it only contained pendulum not because it was DnB.

Anything else interesting I'll probably go into more detail later on. Tomorrow 'tis the Mercury's and right now I'm off to fix the washing machine. Lovely.

The Ultimate Cover Version

2009-09-02T19:45:00.003+01:00

Ok shortly before I disappeared I heard this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAqxRA7h0Ds by Antony and The Johnsons. It's not the ultimate cover version, but it reaffirmed my love of cover versions. (As previously affirmed by the Saintsaviour version of 'Love Will Tear us Apart' - you can track it through my other blog http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/)

However it seems recently this is coming back to bite me in the ass. First off there was an AWFUL cover band I sat through waiting to experience 'the world's longest Skyscreen' while in China (it was indeed massive!). I need to update my statement. Cover Versions = Good. Cover Bands = Goddamn awful. No exception. Tribute bands are classed seperate to cover bands as they have at least attempted to find a niche to fit into (even if it is someone else's niche).

Cover bands, I feel, are a lead part of musical scum. Discontent with creating their own music to murder live, they like to murder that of as many acts as possible within the short live time they are (unbelievably) given to perform in. They are unable to offer their own twist to the songs, as they have no twist. And, it seems like the effort of working on so many different songs, means each one becomes neglected in their hands, and therefore, when performed live, recalls something that may once have been great but is now a distorted, dirtier (and not in the good way) shadow of the original. It makes my ears want to close up and stop experiencing the world.

My favourite example of a bad cover band came the weekend after my first glastonbury at a charity gig in a local pub. Despite being slightly unsettled by the lead singer's uncanny resemblance to my maths teacher, they got worse when they actually started by ruining an Arctic Monkey's song I had heard played live by the actual band less than a week before. And they really murdered it. In the kind of way where I didn't even know what I was listening to until the chorus, and was then so stunned I couldn't remember how the original actually went. . . I hate cover bands.

The other piece of evidence to make my rethink my original statement was a cover of a cover. Yesterday I was unwittingly stood in a queue listening to a 'phone music style' (you know like the music they play when you're on hold?) remix of Benni Bennassi's remix of the Rolling Stone's 'Satisfaction'. Bad times. Sometimes you can process a song just a bit to far and turn it into COMPLETE RUBBISH! If the computer is doing significantly more work to make the song than you are, it might be time to stop meddling with it.

So, as a rethink on my original statement; I love a good cover version as long as a) its coming from a band who don't spend all their time making cover versions and b) made by an artist and not a machine. Thank you.

Don't even pretend you missed me. . .

2009-08-31T20:38:00.003+01:00

Ok so I disappeared, for a long time. There was the getting ready for China, then the actually being in China, then the wishing I was at Carling weekend. . . and during all that I just pretended I'd done enough jack-shitting on here, and therefore didn't need to update it. Which is probably quite true.

But China was amazing. My understanding of Chinese stretching as far as 'hello' and 'where can i get a taxi', I spent the majority of the downtime watching some Chinese music channel, which to be honest wasn't that different from an English music channel. Well except for the Chinese. It helped me realise some universal facts about the world of pop;

1) You can't call it a pop music channel unless there is at least one video of a freshly-dumped lover walking aimlessly around interspersed with mockumentary footage of 'the good days' (pillow fights etc). Equally you're not a pop star unless you've made one of these videos.

2) There is ALWAYS room for a badly translated foreign language middle eight rap in a r'n'b song. My favourite example of this included the lyric 'bearbricks take a shit on my sofa'. Yes. Of course. =S (I know this was the actual lyric as all videos were handily provided with karaoke style lyrics across the bottom of the screen).

3) In relation to the above, there is no better way to learn a language than through karaoke. Try it.

4) Pushy parents hit gold when they have twins. There was a whole hour long show dedicated to the preteen twin girl pop group 'By 2'. During the videos played in this time they managed to demonstrate a variety of acting/dancing/singing skills that could only be the result of a lifetime at stage school, thus providing an even-more-irritating-than-the-Olsen-twins Chinese pop sensation. Oh boy. But you can bet someone is hearing those tills ringing.

5) Girls have solo careers (except pre-teen twins), boys make boy bands. With very few exceptions. Equally, the success of a boy band can be determined by the hair. The more evidence of hair dying/the longer the hair, the longer they have spent in the spotlight. Fact.

Other than that, I can't say a lot more for the Chinese pop culture. Sorry.

I'm not really here. . .

2009-08-12T20:30:00.002+01:00

Right so I'm off to China in what, like 5 days? Scary. Means I've been sorting lots of stuff. Hence the radio silence.

So to keep you busy here's some videos to check out;

Mapei (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5854178&searchid=03a01035-a24f-474d-a532-1c808cc6b219)

The Big Pink (http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/3751-the-big-pink-dominos-4ad)

White Rabbits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IClBpch9vmM)

EverythingEverything (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5h2LRvBQ5Q)

The XX (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHZVGqqf3gg)

Florence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpLXQorSQe8)

Major Lazer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8uD8OGixdk)

Miike Snow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUYnxWJUOc0)

Plus you want this (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2009/08/hottest_record_eve_benga_me_n.html) but I can't find a video. and I have no idea how long it's available for. =(

Enjoy.

I might come up with a million more by tomorrow. Makes my job easier ;).

Love The XX, Hate The We7 Adverts

2009-08-10T21:16:00.003+01:00

I don't have to wait anymore! In the same way as Florence and via the same website, The XX album is now available online. (http://www.we7.com/#/album/xx-Exclusive-album-preview-!albumId=367943&play=true). Trouble is you have to listen to a really irritating self promoting ad spot from We7 themselves inbetween all the songs, which kinda ruins the atmosphere. Well it put me off a bit anyway.

But the album's pretty good. I think I got some ridiculously short way through the introduction (about 10 seconds) before saying 'OMG it's amazing. I LOVE the XX' and then giving off one of those ridiculously irritating girl squeals. Aren't I cool.

Even worse was the 30 seconds or so before while I was following the links through NME when I was discussing with myself which song would be the album opener and why. This is how sad and obsessive I am. But I was wrong so maybe that's slightly reassuring? (Ok it's not but it made me feel better maybe?)

Anyway as I said earlier it starts with a really mellow introduction, which was a PERFECT production decision. It completely sets the atmosphere, though I think that's an actual drumbeat I hear in the musical foreground? Well that's not really the XX is it? But I'm not complaining. As I said before, I'm a sucker for drums.

The first 'real' track up is VCR, which I actually think is pretty unimpressive as 'an introduction to The XX'. But it's ok 'cos track three is 'Crystallised' which is haunting, beautiful, unique and sends shivers down my spine. I'm not sure if this is because I've been waking up to this song for the last three months and therefore my body has become automated to respond in a 'NO! I don't want to wake up!' mode and then can't accept that I am already awake or because it's actually spine chilling. It's definitely beautiful though. And the lyric is amazing. Especially the harmonizing at the end. Very much looking forward to seeing this live.

Then we hit a couple of tracks I haven't heard before. Yessssssss. They make you appreciate The XX sound. You can understand why they chose to produce it themselves (quoted as something along the lines as when they worked with producers it sounded 'more like them and less like us'). Though, I struggle to work out if 'Fantasy' is supposed to be a musical interlude or a proper song. It's actually very empty in terms of sound, and the vocal is just a faint background noise. This isn't a bad thing, this is just kind of how they work. Different.

By the time 'Basic Space' comes on it's liked being pulled back into the real world again. I'd become so lost in this dreamy fictional world where all the musical is beautiful and emotional that I kinda forgot that I was listening to an actual band who make real music that I really love. Plus having seen how amazing the video for Basic Space is now (http://www.myspace.com/thexx), it made this song seem even more beautiful. You could definitely curate some amazingly eerie and indiefied animation to fit this album. I might even try and set that as a challenge to all my mates off to art schools in September. =)

But if you have been drifting off into your fantasy world, then the end of Infinity should wake you up. It suddenly gets louder (I don't know why?!) with one of those amazing building instrumentals that eventually drowns out the vocal and feels like it needs a conductor stood in front of it. Except it doesn't. This is band music. Not orchestration. But it comes across as a wonderful amalgamation of the two.

Then after the chill-out-yet-almost-pop miracle that is 'Night Time' I'm at the finale. 'Stars'. I told you before that this song is so beautiful it tends to make me cry when I'm slightly hungover on a Sunday morning, and the album version has a whole extra verse I never appreciated before. Now I'm sure I'll be crying at the live shows. I'm exhausted just from having to go through all those emotions listening to it. In fact the only way I'm going to get over this song now is to hit that replay button and start the whole album again. I don't think any other song could even come close. In fact I'm sure they're just in a league of their own.

I mean it didn't quite live up to my expectations. But then I don't think anyone could have met my expectations without being some form of Lucy-stalking mind-reading superpower. Which would just be bit creepy. But once I got over that, I'm have to admit I'm still chilled/blown away by it. And I apologise for the overuse of 'Beautiful', 'Different' and 'Emotional' but that is The XX so get used to it. Now to save up for my own copy. . . =)

Drunken Discussions

2009-08-09T15:19:00.002+01:00

So I don't remember everything from last night (unsurprisingly) but I do remember a couple of key debates I've decided to reproduce here (because I can);

1) If you're just the producer can you really claim to be a 'member' of the band?

As in La Roux is Elly Jackson and 'Ben the Producer' but he's not actually involved in any of the promo, doesn't perform during the live sets and generally seems to have no role outside the studio. If that makes you a band member does that mean James Ford is actually a Klaxon and Mark Ronson has more side projects than Jack White? Well erm..no. But then again James Ford is a member of Simeon Mobile Disco, though I'm pretty sure he's toured with that. Basically if someone tries to outdo me by saying 'La Roux is actually a duo you know' am I allowed to respond with 'Fuck off is a producer a band member.'? I think I am.

2) Which Eminem song is better 'Beautiful' or '3am'?

My general opinion is that Beautiful is, well, beautiful and poignant and amazing and in depth and been done before and not original and etc. . . but 3am is new and different and exciting and actually quite damn terrifying when the first time you watch the video your alone in your very dark house with no idea if this is a spoof or not. . . But I can't find anyone to agree with me. So instead we started to discuss the weird Eminem hand twirl towards the end of the Beautiful video.

3) Armand Van Helden or Calvin Harris?

Easy. Armand Van Helden anyday. NEXT!

4) The XX?

As I have said before, muchly, The XX are amazing. However they're not exactly dancy, which kinda disagrees with the whole saturday night ethic. Many issues came up from this - just how sad is it to be the only person who knows all the words at a gig for the support act? Is it ok if I cry when I see them live? Why will noone let me bet on them making next year's mercury list? Am I little bit obsessed with The XX? My answers came quite quickly - very sad, no it would be weird, because you're an idiot, YES! Ok not really much of a discussion then.

Then it started to go a bit down hill . . .

5) How can Virgin on Demand media have Mpho and songs from 'High School Musical' and not have the GENIUS that is MSTRKRFT?

I mean I can understand all the corporate crap for High School Musical - but in terms of charts etc MSTRKRFT are much more successful than Mpho. Barely anyone has even HEARD of Mpho. So how does that work? Grumble grumble, whine whine.

Until finally (direct transcript btw). . .

6) Does being obsessed with Florence's legs make me a little bit gay?

'OMG a little bit gay? You just said her legs were so hot you want to sleep with her right now. I think that's very VERY gay.'

'Yeah but I mean they are AMAZING legs.'

'True.'

I think we went to bed shortly after this. Was probably the safest option. ;)

Some days I just don't have an opinion. . .

2009-08-07T21:57:00.003+01:00

Maybe it was the threat of driving this morning plus the blood test I knew I had to have later or maybe it was the extra injection they decided to give me (did NOT see that one coming), but I've been a bit distracted today. So not much new. Except a new victim in the form of Saintsaviour. (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/).

There's an excellent cover version up there of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', which got me thinking. . . Some people do a mean cover version. And the best ones always genre hop (though in all fairness that can lead to some of the worst as well). Personally I want to hear Florence and The Machine cover Muse's 'Feeling Good', but that's probably because I still can't stop listening to that album and I need some new material.

I did however learn that The XX are pretty good at cover versions themselves. If you need a couple of examples they are up on the myspace (http://www.myspace.com/thexx) - didn't actually know they were covers till today so might track down the originals. Or maybe I like their versions so much I don't want to ruin it. Like listening to Kate Bush after being so in love with the Futureheads' version of 'Hounds of Love'. :/ In the meantime I'll distract myself with the new video (http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/3748-the-xx-basic-space-young-turks).

Manic Monday

2009-08-03T19:59:00.003+01:00

Today it doesn't stop.

The video for Florence and the Machine 'Drumming' is up on myspace (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=61322514). It's all proper choreography, sleek angles, and Flo's legs (wow btw.). Plus there's still footage of her from Ibiza on Friday night on the radio 1 website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/ibiza/2009/).

There's a cover of The XX's 'Crystalised' by a new band called Room 104 (http://www.myspace.com/room104mg) - though the XX do admit they're not sure if it's real or 'our manager or someone else having us on'. The increase in plays since this morning though suggests that a few people are still curious enough to find out.

Zane Lowe played the new singles by Muse and the Arctic Monkeys (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/). One of which includes the lyric 'What came first the chicken or the dickhead' while the other has the line 'it's time the fat cats had a heart attack'. Wha-hey. Muse are clearly back, but we knew that from 'United States of Eurasia', although 'Uprising' feels less like Queen more like the synth powered Muse we got introduced to on the last record (don't worry the guitars are still there). The Arctic Monkey's/Alex Turner are the brilliant lyricists they always were, and the music they make is still edgy, dramatic, and recognisable, though I'm still not sure I can forgive the long hair.

Mike Skinner has posted a new streets song via twitter (listen here http://bln.kr/1IU/). Sharp, witty, and fairly upbeat, it's what you expect from The Streets, and it's worth lending an ear to.

Pitchfork has posted the new Major Lazer video for 'Pon the Floor' on it's site (http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/3736-major-lazer-pon-de-floor-downtown). It's all dance sex and bright colours, very different from the illustrations for 'Hold the Line'. (Not too sure who is 'Major Lazer' in this one). Plus there's the promise of the Heath Ledger Modest Mouse video being posted tomorrow. Excellent.

Lethal Bizzle's musical director (Breakbeat) has told me to remind you to check out his single Heaven, plus the accompanying vblog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbpodppxih8), with cameos offof Ironik and Lethal B. Or you could just go back and watch the footage from the live session last week (bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe again).

I got back into myspace fishing with Garrett Ramquist (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/). For lovers of Americana.

Also, there's a new band out called The Drums (http://www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever) that I think you should check out. First heard on Steve Lamacq last week it was on Zane Lowe tonight, so it's moving fast. Get there now. It's chirpy, indie disco type music that you can whistle along to, if you really want. One to watch at the very least.

And I've just managed to do a whole post without using the words 'so' or 'ok' to start a sentence. Amazing. I think I'll take a couple of days off to celebrate. ;)

101 ways to kill a hangover

2009-08-02T21:08:00.002+01:00

Ok I'll admit there aren't 101. Funnily enough I don't have that many. But I've got a few and I had nothing better to do, so I might as well write about them.

So last week I went the heavy rock/stay awake/make sure you actually get off the bus at the right stop and not 5 miles away option. That worked quite well. Though I had to ease myself into it. I started with Cage the Elephant 'Back Against the Wall'. Which is kinda gentle enough to not be overkill, but rocky enough for you to then move onto more Cage, White Denim, Turbo Fruits etc. Feeling particularly brave I went for Be Your Own Pet one morning. That was ok until I hit one song and had to turn it off. Didn't fall asleep though. So heavy works if you need to be awake, but you have to start slow and not go too far.

This morning however I didn't need to be anywhere or do anything. So I did the softly softly nice and gentle approach via The XX - http://www.myspace.com/thexx (btw I'm not going to shut up about the XX until everyone is a fan and/or I can finally make my mercury bet and win muchos money.) My ears liked that. A lot. But I did nearly start crying during 'Stars' (though this may have been because I was starting to realise just what 'hidden gems' I'd put on itunes yesterday - wtf? I even OWN a Christina Aguilera CD?). In fact, in a moment of pure genius I decided to stick that song on my myspace - so you can check that instead (http://www.myspace.com/lucydashuk) if your too lazy to go the whole way to The XX. I also interspliced this with a bit of Miike Snow - 'Sylvia', (search on youtube) which almost kicked me into gear again. Well it led me onto some ever so slightly more upbeat songs.

The first of these being Chew Lips. Chew Lips was one of the few songs I managed to get off of Nick Grimshaw's show (who got it off of Steve Lamacq) before I got a bit put off him (I think it was the awful electro version of 'Killing in the Name of' by a band called Apples maybe?). They're definitely worth a listen - hungover or not. Though I still reckon if I'd not been singing about drink driving (from 'Salt Air') in my driving test I might have passed. . .or not. Anyway, from here I just followed the links through their label (Kitsune) and within half an hour I was listening to The Whip and up and about again. So the softly softly approach worked for a bit, and my ears liked it, but it needs a bit of development if your going to get going again. Or maybe I just can't sit still.

Of course, my final choice for hangover cures is the get up and go option. Occasionally (for some unknown reason) I decide hungover on a Sunday is the BEST time to go out for a bike ride in the countryside (of course!). Which normally means I have to listen to something upbeat enough to cycle to. I've got to be honest I've not quite cracked this yet. I find Muse 'Feeling Good' is a good start but then I get a bit lost. I've used Florence and The Machine, The Knife, and more Muse fairly well, but none of them quite capture the 'I'm curing my hangover by riding a bike in the pathetic British sun' feeling. So if anyone knows an album written for this purpose let me know and I'll road test it next week sometime. . .

The Bottom of the Pile

2009-08-01T22:34:00.004+01:00

So I've got a mate round to drink with under the guise that she wants to copy some of my albums onto her new MP3, which kinda forced me to look at what I actually own. I'm ashamed to say she found my steps cd - but at least I didn't actually put it on my ipod - unlike her!

I have however found a couple of albums I forgot I had to stick on my ipod though. Trouble is, there was probably a reason they were at the bottom of the pile. Currently I'm downloading Black Eyed Peas. I don't want the whole album - only the good songs. Except it's so long since I listened I can't remember which ones are which. Ah. Problem.

I guess we'll just have to find out next week - when in my slightly more sober state I realise why I hadn't downloaded them in the first place. Looking forward to it, music is ALL about exploration. ;)

It was supposed to be so easy. . .

2009-07-31T21:45:00.002+01:00

Today's been a bit like that Streets song. Lots of stuff to do, running around and not really achieving a lot. (If you don't know what I mean it's track one on 'A Grand Don't Come for Free' - go find the album - it's good).

Let's start with betting on The XX. Harder than I thought. I went to both the bookies in my local area and one of them wouldn't do mercury betting at all while the second one wouldn't do anything unless it was this years list. Apparently I have to try William Hill. So if anyone knows where I can place a bet on next years mercury shortlist, please let me know.

Then there was myspace fishing (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/). That went ok, once I finally managed to get myspace to work. I don't think my Craptop likes me running more than 2 Internet pages at once. So facebook, twitter, myspace, email, and blogger weren't very appreciated. Damn.

By this time I gotta move my stuff and get to where I'm staying tonight, so a frantic dash out the door finally got me where I needed to be. But I'd totally forgot about the radio 1 Ibiza thing. Argh! Tuned in just in time to hear the Florence set. Good. Except it wasn't brilliant really. But that might be a good thing. I LOVE Florence but I need to move on. I have 3000 songs on my ipod at the minute and in the last week I've only listened to about 35 (20 from Flo and 15 from White Denim - I know nice mix right?) that's 1%. Shameful.

It's ok now though - the Mash Up's in the background and I feel safe again. Talking of which I did some research into one of the artists off last weeks show - Mapei (http://www.myspace.com/mapei). The music's fine but don't try and follow her train of thought. I mean following links in her blog I got a debate from the American elections loosely based on Homosexuality issues and a link to catwalk video that seemed to have no reason for randomly sticking the letter 'V' up on a black screen half way through other than it could. And if that still isn't weird enough just watch the videos on her myspace. That's enough for anybody I swear. It must be the Swedish in her. They may be crazy but they sure know how to make a beat. You can't deny it.

This is why white girls don't talk rap. . .

2009-07-30T14:11:00.004+01:00

Ok so I know I said I'd get back into it or whatever but the chance to go to China next month came up so I've been dealing with that instead. Sorry. Not that you really care.

Anyways whilst searching flights etc last night I had the old faithful Zane Lowe on radio 1 in the background. He had Lethal Bizzle in live. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/) Wow. I mean I've always liked the Bizzle but I mean that cover of Go Hard was awesome! I don't know how he does it. He's just too good.

Now lets get this straight. I'm an indie kid through and through. New years eve 2007 I helped out on my mate on her 'Big Urban Night' radio show. I mean I knew my stuff but safe to say I didn't have a lot to add to the mix. Except a massive opinion on M.I.A. (which resulted in me dissing my mate for not knowing the lyrics to 'Jimmy' were in English. Nice.). So my I'm not exactly a fountain of hip hop/rnb knowledge. But I know what I like.

Last time I heard Lethal Bizzle live he did an excellent cover of The Rakes - '22 grand job', and since then he's been known to work with Gallows. Now it takes a special kind of rapper to have a repertoire that wide, so respect to him for that. And he's not so indie he can't do rap. I mean check out 'Police on my Back' et al on the myspace (http://www.myspace.com/lethalbizzlemusic). Now. Go.

I hate people who are too genre specific to explore music. That rant from La Roux's Elly Jackson the other week on how shit RnB is is my pet hate. How can anyone possibly say that? I don't particularly like classical music but I'm not gonna say there isn't a single decent piece of classical music out there. You've gotta be ready to change your mind.

So for those of you who need some heads up here's what I like rap-wise at the minute (though remember my earlier statement - I'm no guru);

Eminem - 3am (with the video) - people are all over 'Beautiful' cos it's so poignant etc but this is just chilling. Not many raps like this out there.

Sway - Mercedes Benz - to dance to.

Master Shortie - Dead End - just for fun.

Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye - Run this town - Because he's a legend. (And don't forget the Chase and Status remix of Death of Autotune.)

And everyone is all over a guy called Drake at the min, so check that.

And if you're really too Indie to even try there's still an Italian making indie in the myspace fishing (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/).

Annie Mac saved my life

2009-07-28T21:06:00.002+01:00

So a few days/weeks/eternities ago I told you Annie Mac saved my life 'cos she finally told me who sang 'Mary Jane' (Major Lazer). . .then on Saturday night when I got to the stage where I was just a bit too drunk to youtube DJ safely anymore (you should try it ;)) she saved my life again when I just stuck the mash-up on using radio 1 listen again.

If you've never listened to the Mash-up, you should. It's the perfect Friday night atmosphere. The kind of show that makes me ridiculously annoyed that I have to go to bed at stupid o'clock every Friday night just so I can get up in time to go to work every Saturday. Yaaay. If you've not heard it, this Friday (9pm radio 1) will be awesome - what with it being live from Ibiza and all. And if you can't wait Friday's is still online (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/mashup/). Don't forget to check the Florence and the Machine mini-mix (the most genius radio feature ever - 5 minute DJ sets) where she drops the XX a hell of a lot more successfully than I did about an hour or two before (I know it's great but apparently not dancy enough - whatever!)

Speaking of which - I have decided today to try and bet on the XX making next year's mercury list - so if anyone wants to lend me the money, I'll pay you back when I win. Hell if the odds are good enough I'll even give you some of the winnings. =) Or failing that you could buy me the album?

Anyway I know I've been a bit lazy lately - so tomorrow I'll get back to the myspace fishing (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/) /finding new songs/twittering (@lucydashuk) properly thing.

The sunlight hiding behind the crappy british weather

2009-07-27T18:44:00.004+01:00

I woke up this morning, with more and more memories of Saturday night/Sunday morning coming back to haunt me. Eurgh. Then all the rain started and it didn't really get much better. Heavy rain (pretty unsurprisingly) gave me the biggest Glastonbury withdrawal symptoms I've had in a while. More eurgh. I want to go back! (Turns out sitting in your room in novelty sunglasses looking back over the pictures just isn't the same. Funny that.)

So I decided I'd play some more of The XX, they seem to fit my mood pretty well when I'm down. And what's this? Exclusive album preorder with bonus songs via Rough Trade - yes!!! (http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=314890) No wait, they want actually money for it. Well I should have known they wouldn't really give me an album plus bonus tracks for under a fiver. But it didn't help my mood, I gotta be honest. So now I'm skint, it's raining, and I really want to be at a festival but I've not even got tickets to see a live show till September so that's not gonna happen.

So what with the rest of the world seeming pretty screwed up, I went back to listening to Zane Lowe's radio 1 show from last Monday. And there it was, that shiny happy moment I've been needing - in the shape of The Big Pink - 'Dominoes'. I gotta admit I was pretty surprised the first time I heard this song - it kinda wasn't how I'd expected the Big Pink to sound based on the stuff I'd read/seen. Then I realised that's cos me being slightly hungover at the time I'd managed to mix up The Big Pink with Fucked Up's very own 'Pink Eyes'. Clever.

But that to one side, I started to really get into the song. And I'm not normally very good at doing that the first time I hear something. Usually it takes a while to sink in. That's what's great about this song. It's instant, contagious, happiness, cleverly contained in a short 3 minute burst. It's dancy, poppy, and euphoric. It's just generally great.

And on top of that. I got to hear the new Pearl Jam song again. Though the first few moments do put me uneasily in the mind of some bizarre music crash involving The Hives and Mstrkrft's 'Heartbreaker'. Now why dont you go listen to it (http://www.myspace.com/tenclub) and tell me that you don't hear it too.

Mr Hudson

2009-07-26T18:45:00.002+01:00

Ok I've said this a lot to other people and I'm probably going to still be saying it for a long time. People like Mr Hudson don't just meet up with Kanye West, start working with him and become international superstars. They just don't. It's the kind of thing fairy tales are made of.

(At the minute the only idea I've come up with that might lift Mr Hudson out of the typical indie pack and elevate him towards big-deal American singer/songwriting/rapper/producers, is the fact he is also a producer. Perhaps that's why it happens?)

Anyway, I love Mr Hudson. I loved Mr Hudson when he still hung around with his 'library' and asked himself why he must always play the clown. He was the first act I ever saw live at glastonbury two years ago and I loved it. But he was just another indie singer-songwriter, who would probably have another few songs that hit the mainstream radar, but generally had a fairly indie-singer-songwriter sized fanbase. The kind of act that released a second or third album where every single journalist asked to review it talks about how he's 'matured' since his last release. You know what I mean right?

So when I heard or read in an interview some time maybe last year about how Kanye West liked Mr Hudson and they were working together my jaw practically hit the floor. What!? That's not how it works. Then however many months later the single gets airtime. Mr Hudson (sans Library) ft. Kanye West 'Supernova'. You mean it wasn't a lie? You mean I wasn't dreaming? You mean this is actually real?! Huh?!

Personally I'm happy for the guy. Supernova is a good song. It just hit no. 2 in the charts. Mr Hudson is good live. I saw the end of his set at glasto again this year, same stage, pretty much same time, hell of a lot bigger crowd. I sense a good future. But how are you supposed to explain to all those cocky singer songwriters with a handful of ok songs that fame isn't automatic now? It shouldn't work like this. But apparently it does.

Alex Turner needs to cut his hair

2009-07-25T16:13:00.003+01:00

So I caught the premiere of the new Arctics video last night (I'd say I tuned in ready but despite knowing it was on it was still a total fluke =P). It's supposed to 'Fuck with your head' which I suppose it does, if your already head-fucked to begin with. And there's a great moment with Turner rising up out of the sea, but in all fairness Dave Grohl does it much better as the Devil for Tenacious D's 'Tribute'. Other than that it's not that special. Except for the hair.

I'd seen some footage of the 'filming of' beforehand so I already knew Alex needed a haircut, but it seems the rest of them have followed suit. What's with the long hair? - IT LOOKS RIDICULOUS GUYS! Seriously no guy looks good with long hair. No one. Thank God Helders knows where its at. You'd never see him with long hair. He understands ;).

If you want to check the video out it should be on youtube, I'm sure you can all work the search bar effectively enough to track it down. Feel free to let me know what you think.

And in other news, myspace fishing now has its own page (http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/). Today is Vittorio Tolomeo. Check it out.

Playlist Passion

2009-07-24T19:11:00.002+01:00

So actually I didn't get up to all that much music related business today. Seems real life got in the way. Damn that real life! Plus the sucky weather stopped me feeling 'inspired' (yeah right!).

I did spend far too many hours listening to the radio one playlist though. My conclusions seem to be;

1) the start of new Dizzee Rascal song IS Infernal Paris to Berlin. It really is. And it's driving me insane.

2) No matter how long it has been on there, Green Day's '21 Guns' is not playlist friendly material. I'm not saying it's a bad song just that there is no good radio edit that could ever come out of it.

3) Frank Music is where Mika has been all these years - and the intense isolation has made him weirder.

4) there are some excellent dance songs out there atm. Check Danny Byrd 'Red Mist', The Ian Carey Project 'Get Shakey' and Sub Focus 'The Light'.

5) The best lyric in a pop song is officially 'I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him'. Thank you 3oh!3 (crap name though).

Apart from that, myspace fishing now has its own blog http://lucylovesfishing.blogspot.com/. Up there now is the Tina Mali post from yesterday, more to follow.

Myspace Fishing!!!

2009-07-23T14:46:00.002+01:00

Ok so doing what I do I get loads of friend requests on myspace from people I haven't heard of, who want to be bigger. Now I'm in no position to dis cos hopefully my message gets round in a similar vein. So I have created a game called 'myspace fishing' in order to get through them all. Basically, when someone sends me a request I email back 3 questions, just to see how much they really care.

The questions at the minute are;

Coolest myspace friend request?

Next band I should see live?

Songs or albums?

Then when someone replies I'll check out their page and let y'all know what I think. Simple.

I started this today and I've already got a response woop woop! (Though I can't rule out that this may be the ONLY response I get ;)) So today's fishing victim is Tina Mali. (http://www.myspace.com/tinamalimusic)

She told me La Roux was the coolest, I should totally see Florence and the Machine/Regina Spektor/Tori Amos and I should check out Jackie's Strength by Tori Amos.

In return I tell you that the above gives you some idea - but it's waayyyy more experimental. It kinda takes a few listens to get your head around it. It's very obviously not your typical pop music (I mean just look at the band line up instruments) but I can imagine hearing a couple of the songs on one of those classic chill out albums in a few years time. Or maybe sound tracking some bizarre yet wonderful animation sequences in far-out indie films.

I reckon my favourite song is maybe 'Spirit's Child' but it definitely works better when she's singing with a good percussion beat behind her (Love Puberty Love is just a bit too weird for me). I've got a feeling the general eccentricity of it might put off the majority of the top-40 record buying public, but I can imagine a fairly large cult following a few years down the line - or at least enough to keep them going on the live circuit - where I would imagine they are at their best.

To sum it all up in three words; Tina Mali are eccentric, experimental chillout.

Major Lazer

2009-07-22T19:26:00.004+01:00

I cannot STOP listening to Major Lazer 'Hold the Line'. Oh it's sooo good. There's a mini version on the myspace player (http://www.myspace.com/majorlazer) or just watch the video (at the top of the page). It's just beats, and reggae vocals, and the inability to sit still while listening to it. Plus that really irritating (but effective) phone noise that makes you check your own phone 8 million times even though you know a) that it's on the song b) that's not your ring tone and c) your phone is on silent/not even in hearing distance anyway.

As far as I can gather Major Lazer is producers Switch and Diplo doing Gorillaz (in the whole false identities/animation only type thing), but in all fairness I don't really care. I just know it sounds good. The day I finally found out who did the song 'Mary Jane' (thank you Annie Mac!) that was in my head for weeks, was a good day for me. I suddenly found Major Lazer. Now if anyone would like to donate me money to buy the album I would muchly appreciate that.

In the mean time I'll be looping it on youtube, with random diverts to the bizarre but excellent 'Darlin' by the XX teens (check it out - just stick it in the search bar at the top) and various M.I.A./Santigold tracks (for the obvious reason that both are very much associated with Switch and Diplo).

In other news, the new Muse song has now received airtime (bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe) which is al pianoes and muse-y style epicness, and I changed my mind, the new Arctic Monkeys song is excellent after all and should be listened to many times whilst gorging yourself on Wilko's Pick 'n' Mix.

Mercury Prize!

2009-07-21T12:10:00.002+01:00

Well the countdown begins - nominations out today;

Florence and the Machine

Kasabian

Glasvegas

La Roux

Speech Debelle

Friendly Fires

Bat for Lashes

The Horrors

Lisa Hannigan

The Invisible

Led Bib

Sweet Billy Pilgrim

So that means 3/4 NME tour line up got nominations, plus one from the radar tour, 7 debut albums and Bat for Lashes gets a second chance after being ROBBED by the Klaxons in 2007.

Current bookies favourites (according to William Hill) are Kasabian and Flo (5-1), but I reckon Speech Debelle might stand a good chance as well? (Based on the hype I hear). I'll try and check out the ones I haven't heard before in the next few days and let you know what I think (in case you really do care) but in all fairness as long as it's not Glasvegas I'll be happy.

arghhhhhh!

2009-07-20T18:58:00.002+01:00

Ok so I sat down yesterday - ready to really get into it - and I got some crappy virus and spent the rest of the day listening to random bursts of 'food science' that told me all about the different proteins in my food. Greeeeaaaatttt! Thought I'd finally got over it when my craptop randomly crashed and it all started again - so not a lot of listening/blogging/calmness going on.

However before it all kicked off I did get a chance to hear the Chase and Status Remix of Nneka 'Heartbeat'. Omg those guys have the goddam Midas touch I swear. It's up on the myspace (http://www.myspace.com/chaseandstatus) to check out (you might have to scroll down a bit) so do it! NOW! lol.

I think it was the pretty chimes at the start made my ears prick up, then that cold, hard D'n'B that just kept me there. Being the obsessive I am, I checked the original (http://www.myspace.com/nnekaworld) which wouldn't be bad if I'd heard them the other way round. (Though if you have the time there are a couple of songs worth listening to on there). She's got a good voice - C & S clearly know how to pick their samples, and later on it was heavy enough to stop me worrying about the craptop (when i could eventually get myspace to work again).

I'll start again tomorrow.

Hey! Say What- What!

2009-07-18T17:26:00.003+01:00

Sometimes there's a hole in my head that can only be filled by Swedish electronica. Sometimes it's bad teenage angst nu-punk songs. Today after waiting fifty minutes for a bus I only needed to be on for 10 - it was White Denim. Very loud. Ahhhhhhhh...........

It was definitely a good purchase. The drums pound. The guitar pounds. The vocals pound. Yes! Heavy gritty Texan Rock right now please! That might sound a bit simple but it's really not. It's a really good record. And I hope when I get my hands on the next one it's just as good.

Workout Holiday sounds like every song was born of a jam session - the kind of thing we get up to at my house after copious amounts of meat and alcohol, except good. The singles I heard all that time ago (Let's Talk About It' and 'Shake, Shake, Shake') still sound fresh and energetic and tireless, and the other songs are just waiting for me to fall in love with them. I mean there are the weird moments like the start of 'Sitting' (Piano? What is this? You insult my rock deprived brain!) But nothing seems 'bad' just maybe 'less good'. (I do actually like Sitting =)). It obviously works best at loud volume when you need to complain - so I'll be listening to it a lot then.

So, to complaining. First of all after listening to White Denim I now NEED to own the second album AND The Dead Weather. But I'm skint. So anyone who wants to buy them for me will be eternally appreciated (I refuse to illegally download - I'm too much of an artwork lover).

Also Marina and The Diamonds - there isn't an album yet. But it's coming. In February apparently - BUT THAT'S AGES AWAY! I could totally have gone back to not being that big a fan by then. There's only so long a good Glasto performance will stay in your head. Isosceles should also take note of that - though you get a concession because you gave me a free triangle - which has to be the best free gig gift ever (who needs badges, right?)

Finally - what's with song in your head that you actually know less of the words to than you think. Yesterday The Coral - Dreaming of You. 'What's up with my heart when it skips a beat/Can't feel no pavement right under my feet/neh neh neh neh and my hands are tied/neh neh neh neh something goodbye' Is this really all I know? I thought I loved this song.

Ok rant over. Sorry. ;)

drums

2009-07-17T10:14:00.002+01:00

I like song with a good drum beat. Hence why my friends were really surprised when I ran around saying 'I've found a really good new band and they DON'T HAVE any drums!' Shock Horror! In all fairness my friends probably weren't listening - but that's not the point.

Anyways a few months ago when my exams were KILLING me - I started listening to The XX more and more and eventually downloaded 'Crystallised' to my phone to wake me up in the morning. Beautiful. I then heard them do a couple more songs on a Steve Lamaq session and fell in love.

SO anyway while I still come down from my rioutous week away (yeah right!) I urge you to check out The XX. (http://www.myspace.com/thexx)

Ahhhhhhh.

Arctic Monkeys

2009-07-07T20:07:00.004+01:00

Bit lazy today - I'm off for the week so much oldness on the ipod - but I finally got round to listening to 'Crying Lightening' (available now to buy on itunes/listen to on Myspace).

It's OK - it's very Arctics - but I just can't get into it yet. Saying that though, as with any song they put out, chances are I'll know every word within a month and jumping up and down about the new album [Humbug]. It starts well - but doesn't really get any faster, just a bit louder. The lyrics are as observant and clever as ever, though if you don't listen properly that first verse is just subconscious advertising for Haribo. As they said themselves 'It's a bit...straaaange as a pop song' (I swear listen to the interview (bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe) and it is that elongated) but for now I'll just have to give it that most noncommittal of responses - 'It's probably a grower'.

Other than that I'll be back next week. Might try some Myspace Fishing (you're just wondering now, right?) and I'll probably have something to say about the White Denim album I finally got hold of (Workout Holiday - I know like how far behind? lol.) See you then.

Flo's Lungs

2009-07-06T17:21:00.002+01:00

It's arrived! It's here! And I've been playing it since about 10 this morning (I know - I had a lie in ;)) Plus there's a new Arctic Monkeys song later. What better way to start the week?

So Lungs. It's good. I started with Disc Two - considering these were the songs I haven't spent the last 6 - 12 months listening to already - and it works surprisingly well. Bird Song is, of course, amazing, but then I don't have a lot of songs about killing fictional birds to compare it to. Despite that it's still got the drum beat that first attracted me when the demo was up last year. And it is an EPIC beat.

The two other new songs are good as well, (Falling is very dreamy, Hardest of Hearts thumps along into a chorus bursting with desperation) but the demo's of Ghosts (I'm Not Calling You a Liar) and Dog Days seem a bit pointless maybe?

Disc One on the other hand is straight into it. Recent singles Dog Days Are Over and Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) open it up, and you're right there in the middle of it, singing your heart out ready for the next 10 songs until I'm Not Calling You a Liar slows you down a bit. It's a good song - it's just not quite powerful enough to follow on from the first two.

Howl definitely is though. From that first keyboard hit. Heavy. Powerful. No wonder it's so many people's favourite already. I'd have put money on this being the next single. However that is saved for Drumming Song, which isn't a bad choice. It's meaty and easy to get into, and it works very well live - perfect for the forthcoming tour. Blinding is also good live - but I'm not so sure I like it on the album. It doesn't quite have the same rawness it needs to work. And the gasp at the end just leaves you wanting a huge mosh moment that doesn't come. Similarly You've Got The Love is the BEST set closer but I always liked the idea that it would be part of the set and not the record (ok I know it was released as a single - but maybe it could have stayed like that?).

However it's good that Myspace favourites My Boy Builds Coffins, Between Two Lungs and Girl With One Eye finally get a proper release though, and the ever so slightly more polished production makes them just that little bit better. Though the 'Bayou Percussion Version' Of Girl With One Eye on Disc Two is massive - and shows just how easy it would be to take any of them in a different direction.

Cosmic love is, well, cosmic, floaty but purposeful, and the emotion in Florence's vocal draws you in before you realise. Similarly, Hurricane Drunk floats along and works really well on the record - except maybe for the fade at the end. Hearing it live I always wanted to rework it, make it that much punchier. But this one surprises me most in how different it sounds. I may have been converted.

And of course, Kiss With A Fist. The first song on our radar - and its good it's still there. Songs about domestic violence written by teenagers. Excellent. Though I've got to be honest. If you'd have asked me last year how 'Lungs' would sound based on this single I'd have been well off the mark. And it's a good job I was. Debut albums really can't get much better.

Just gotta track down the Arctics now....

number one

2009-07-05T18:57:00.002+01:00

Well you know you can have faith in the British public when Cascada beat Michael Jackson to number one. Riiiiiiiiight. Though in all fairness MJ has what like 12 singles in the top 40 at the minute? Now that's just a little bit greedy. New record for number of songs in the top 40 by the same artist though(Elvis had 7). I'm guessing he'll be able to clear some of that debt for his heirs with that. R.I.P.

Saturday

2009-07-05T18:25:00.009+01:00

Ok so I was being a bit too hopeful to expect new Bloc Party or Dizzee Rascal - especially from a dj who decided the 'drum 'n' bass hour' means playing back to back Pendulum. Yeah...erm...no. No thanks. (Don't get me wrong Pendulum are great - especially live - but there is a little bit more out there than that. High contrast remixing Adele anyone?) And I thought I'd at least get a good dose of the Chase and Status remix of White Lies. (http://www.myspace.com/whitelies) No chance. Shame 'cos its a good song once you get into. I mean its so slow at times it seems like dubstep - but I've seen it work really well in the middle of a set. I loved the original anyways - I could sing all the words already - but I love the way Chase and Status have switched it all up even more. The drums are still there just less obvious - and its that high pitched 'duh-duh-duh duh-duh' that leads the song that sends people crazy. Simplicity is always the best policy. It's worth checking out at least. And there are some other remix attempts on there to get your ears round if you don't like it.

Otherwise - I had great fun relistening to some old tracks when I was getting ready. Be Your Own Pet - Hillmont Avenue, The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful, White Denim - Let's Talk About It, The Subways - This Is A Club For People Who Hate People and the entire X-Ray Spex album. If you've not heard any of these you should definitley have a look. The BYOP track is a nightmare to find - but its amazng once you do ('If I was crazy I would have fun ALL THE TIME!') and it can take a while to get used to Poly Styrene's vocals (X-Ray Spex), but keep at it.

Apart from that I'm just waiting to actually hold the Florence and The Machine album tomorrow. It just better arrive before I go away on Wednesday.....

Work

2009-07-04T15:36:00.003+01:00

Work today was pretty much ruled by the question 'is Lady Gaga fit?' (and sliding around on empty coke boxes) so Paparazzi has been in my head all day. Rubbish. My sole male colleague lost the argument to her 'air brushed manliness' but we did agree that despite many production efforts to disuade us - she can sing live. There was then an excellent conversation about 'who is Kurt Cobain?' which led to one of my friends asking 'why hasn't he been in the papers much then if he was married to courtney love?' well - erm - duh! I guess there's just no hope.

Im off out tonight so we'll see whats playing in town - I'm intrigued to see if the new Bloc Party song has started circuiting yet (http://www.myspace.com/blocparty) - defo want to see how people react to that. I think its pretty good but probably a bit marmite. It doesn't really go anywhere. Saying that though - its definitley less marmite than 'Mercury' but keeps up with their indie disco/indietron themes of late. I still can't listen to Silent Alarm and picture the same band - not complaining though. I love a band that can adapt.

Dizzeeeeeeee

2009-07-03T21:02:00.003+01:00

True to my word I tracked down that dizzee song - another collaboration with calvin harris premièred at glasto at the weekend. It doesn't seem to be up on the myspace yet, but it is on the Zane Lowe blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/) for another couple of days and a quick youtube search brought up results.

First impressions - well those first notes are all a bit Infernal - Paris to Berlin right? But otherwise a clear Harris influence. It's got a beat and will probably work well in the clubs and lets be honest it's not like their last effort failed (number 1 anyone?) but I just don't think it's the got the same instantaneous love as Armand Van Helden provided on 'Bonkers'. I'm not a fan yet but I think it will grow and I definitely wouldn't bet against it topping the charts. I mean that crazy dance break/instrumental at the end has got to be enough on its own right?

Otherwise song of the day is probably Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine, just in time for the album release on Monday. It's already on pre-order and I can't wait to wrap my ears around it. For those to impatient to wait there are a couple of previews floating around (we7.com from tomorrow).

Either way love to know what you think (dizzee or flo)...

Fail!

2009-07-02T21:05:00.001+01:00

having failed drastically to find any new music today due to a rubbish internet connection, I instead relied heavily on the songs i already knew. song of the day has to be Basement Jaxx ft. Dizzee Rascal - Lucky Star. Its been sooooo long but its well worth tracking down. Is it wrong that this might be my favourite dizzee track ever? still gotta hear the new output tho. I think the next song is 'my holiday' or something like that? ill find out tommoro.

Glastonbury

2009-07-01T16:49:00.000+01:00

So I got back on Monday but I think my head's still in somerset. Pretty damn good again this year.

In fact I have decided to turn my experience into a series of awards;

Best Band - Florence and the Machine

Worst Band - Wiley Dj set (Not entirely sure that could ever be called djing though....)

Best Fancy Dress - The Policemen (as in 'Wow thats an excellent policeman costume...no... wait thats an actual policeman.' oops.)

Best Dance Tent Moment - Annie Mac

So good I saw them more than once - The Whip

Weirdest/Only at Glastonbury Band - The Correspondants (for a venue you had to have a tattoo to get into the swing went down surprisingly well)

Most Surprising - Marina and the Diamonds

Biggest Egos - N*E*R*D*

Best Costume - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Karen O)

Most Overhyped - Rolf Harris

Biggest Mosh Pit - Pendulum

Most Annoyed I missed - The Dead Weather/BBC Introducing

Only 51 weeks left now.....

2009-07-01T16:46:00.000+01:00

so...