Lana Del Rey - Carmen
I listened to this first without the video and I love it; its like a really well constructed mess.
Whatever people say about her, she has something. I’ll let you know when I’ve worked out what it is.
Azealia Banks can do no wrong
‘nuff said.
Mystery Jets’ new track; Sister Everett
As a Twickenham resident, I will always have a place in my heart specially reserved for Mystery Jets.
As someone who really appreciates good music on a spiritual and emotional level, I know that Mystery Jets aren’t just a ‘local band makes good’ story.
I think Sister Everett is evidence of the band’s creative development while still being undeniably ‘Mystery Jets’ and I cannot wait to see them at New Slang next week.
Event information here… http://goo.gl/ALOcx
4/20
Happy 4/20 everyone!
Posters from Come Game With Me
We created some posters to hang on the walls at the Fuel4 Come Game With Me event in Glasgow on March 21st.
Their purpose was to stimulate and provoke debate in the coffee breaks; to get conversations between the TV, games and digital creatives attending. As a result, they are simply food for thought and Channel 4 doesn’t necessarily agree with everything they say.
You can read them here:
- Are we heading for a creative coffin?
- Do we have the right tools for the job?
- How can gamification get us on the leader board?
- How do games affect our brains?
- Are games making us better?
- What do gamers actually want?
- What do the numbers tell us?
- What does the future hold?
- What is a ‘video game’ anyway?
- Who are the gamers of today?
You can also read a Storify of the day to get a flavour of the event.
Posters that I researched and wrote the copy for finally up on the Channel4 Tumblr!
Blur, 21
The chaps at Parlophone inform me that as it has been 21 years since the release of their debut album Leisure in 1991 (according to maths), Blur’s body of work has been personally compiled by the band in one box, to be released on 30th July 2012. Just a little too late for my birthday unfortunately.
All seven studio albums are collected with over 5½ hours of unreleased material including 65 previously unreleased tracks (as well as all those rarities most of us have preciously bootlegged on tape), 3 DVDs, a collector’s edition book featuring rare and unseen photos and a new and exclusive interview with the band, and a special limited edition Seymour 7-inch vinyl. The box will also include a digital download code for the albums and all bonus material.
Seriously; bloody hell.
The first five albums have been re-mastered by Frank Arkwright in Abbey Road Studios - has been fully overseen by Graham Coxon and producer Stephen Street.
AND a vinyl box set will also be available, with six of the seven albums on double-vinyl, highlighting iconic artwork and visuals from Banksy, David Shrigley and Graham Coxon among others. The vinyl box set also includes a download code to access all of the bonus material digitally, AND each of the 7 LPs will also be available separately on heavyweight vinyl.
Leisure (1991), Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994), The Great Escape (1995), Blur (1997), 13 (1999) and Think Tank (2003).
I don’t know if I’m dribbling or being sick. Either way; WANT.
You can get more information here: http://www.blur.co.uk/blur21
Arctic Monkeys, Electricity
I was going to put my educated opinion here… but I am now so unsure of how I feel about Arctic Monkeys (I LOVE them, oh how I love them, what if things change and we grow apart, wait of course I’d be fine, but oh wow that is amazing, wait whats this) that I won’t put myself on that emotional roller coaster anymore.
Maybe, in time, I will be able to collect my thoughts on this song. For now, why not tell me what you think?
I have only lived
I have only lived in London. Being the only person on a bus or in a train carriage completely freaks me out; I’ve only ever known busy. I’m excellent at maintaining walking speed through crowds.
There’s no way for me to know if you, the reader, have to get a grey-suit-crowded train followed by an even-more-crowded bus to work in the mornings, but I do, and that’s why listening to music on my way to work in the morning feels like I am in on an amazing secret.
I have a playlist that juxtaposes Kiss With A Fist (by Florence + The Machine) with Runaround Sue (by Dion and The Belmonts); if you haven’t listened to either of these songs, I strongly recommend you go and do so. This juxtaposition completely turned around a strongly unpleasant morning and left me grinning ear to ear, almost laughing.
What’s interesting is that it wasn’t the unusual juxtaposition itself but the music, two of the arguably greatest songs the last century offered up. Kiss With A Fist had me striding, even strutting through London Waterloo, feeling electric in bright turquoise, weaving in and out of fields of grey. That song is energy, in such an excellent joyful rage; it is unstoppable (even if Florence + The Machine have since moved on from this sound, the sound remains) and Runaround Sue has the same effect on me, a driving rumble in what I can only presume is my soul.
If you’re ever unsure if a person is trustworthy, play Runaround Sue to them, really sit them down and make them listen. If they don’t tap a toe or crack a grin, I believe they are dead inside.
Want U Back by Cher Lloyd
The social experiment that is X-Factor’s Cher Lloyd has released a single entitled ‘Want U Back’. Unfortunately for Cher, Avril Lavigne’s ‘Sk8er Boi’ still wins out in snubs of the English language.
The song describes a boy acting like a bit of a dick having been dumped by Cher, while she then reaches the revelation that she would like him back.
With hints of B*Witched and a revolting sample of, what sounds like, Cher Lloyd being punched in the stomach used at every possible opportunity, the redeeming feature of this track is a sense of 90’s nostalgia for terrible pop music.
Bear in Heaven
Bear In Heaven’s new single, The Reflection of You is, in my humble opinion, very yummy.
Their new album ‘I Love You, It’s Cool’, is released on 3rd April on Dead Oceans. In fact, Dead Oceans is pretty much a one stop shop for intrinsically cool music at the moment so please do take a look at their site.
SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS
SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS is a documentary/live-performance film featuring intimate footage of James Murphy in the lead-up to, and the aftermath of, LCD Soundsystem’s final show on 2nd April last year in Madison Square Garden.
What started out as a tongue in cheek side-project became one of the most celebrated and definitive sounds of a generation; The Madison Square Garden farewell concert was nearly four hours in length, and sold out instantly with thousands attending.
The film also touches on the professional (and personal) ramifications of Murphy’s decision to retire LCD Soundsystem once and for all; so if you too were glued to Pitchfork’s live streaming of Madison Square Gardens, while tears were simultaneously streaming down your face then this might possibly be one for you.
The trailer and more information here
As a teenager…
I spent the majority of my spare time listening to The Doors. When I was too young to have tried drugs and too naive to understand the majority of the lyrical references, to me they just sounded like poetry. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw on Soundcloud that the legendary producer Bruce Botnick (best known for his work with The Doors and Love) recently discovered an unheard Doors track; “She Smells So Nice” while reviewing the session tapes of L.A. Woman for a 40th Anniversary album reissue to be released 24th January this year.
Its upbeat, slightly odd and typically rambling; there may be reasons that this has remained previously unreleased, especially as it was intended for L.A. Woman - an unstoppable and polished record - but the charisma and (lets be honest) fanboy-nostalgia-excitement of hearing a ‘new’ track by The Doors is more than enough to convince this fangirl of its greatness.
Pre-order the L.A. Woman Reissue here: http://bit.ly/uHNTNz
Listen to “She Smells So Nice” here: http://soundcloud.com/thedoors/she-smells-so-nice
Vice launch a new music channel…
I thought you should know that Vice is going to be launching a lusic channel on YouTube in collaboration with Noisey.com.
It actually looks like its going to be quite interesting; airing a daily music show with Vice’s usual wide range of artists, music news and (unfortunately, probably) some gossip for good measure.
They’ve posted a trailer for your viewing intrigue: http://www.youtube.com/user/noisey
