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10.13.08Public transport playlist
s
o I’ve been a bad blogger again and leaving it too long between posts which I feel pretty bad about, but after a lovely email from unicornology I decided to get my act together and do another music post. I should be doing work right now however, but this is much more fun.
So, this music post features a good bit of new music from albums that I urge you to buy, these songs after going back to college have very much been my ‘public transport playlist’ essentially they keep me incredibly entertained on the bus. Be ready to be uplifted.(download links under song samples)
Little Pictures are twee, they are cute they are everything I adore in music and more. They remind me of a much cuter ‘Architecture in Helsinki’, a male/female version of ‘The boy least likely to’ and many other amazingly good cute artists.
However their songs though cute contain bittersweet lyrics about love, and who doesn’t love a little love song? I know I’m a sucker for one as well as songs about being a camera. All of these songs will remind you of being in love or why you love the people that you do love.
I usually say which songs out of the downloads are my favorites but with these I can’t pick, I like them all equally and it really does cheer me up first thing on a morning to hear these on my ipod. If you listen to any of them listen to ‘This house can fit us all’ it is a cute anthem! I swear. They’ve just released their first EP entitled ‘Owl+Owl’, its amazing and everyone should own it.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I wish I could keep you - Little Pictures
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This house can fit us all - Little Pictures
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I have loved Los Campesinos! ever since I first heard them, and their new album ‘We are beautiful, we are doomed’ is no disappointment. Again this band are quite cute, what with their glockenspiel and all but they have a very obvious edge shouting vocals over pretty beats and laying down tracks that really get your foot tapping.
Their lyrics are often dry, sarcastic the kind of lyrics that a cynic like me adores, these two tracks are from their new album and once again I recommend you listen to both because they are both good in their own little ways. I am mostly drawn towards ‘All your keyfabe friends’ it really depends what mood I am in.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
All your keyfabe friends - Los Campesinos!
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We are beautiful we are doomed - Los Campesinos!
I have been listening to Sportsday Megaphones new album So many colors/So little time on a loop for a few days now. It is jolly, it is floaty, it makes you want to dance and it makes you want to relax. It has the perfect mixture of songs on there and is filled with electronic beats and sweet sounding vocals. My favorite track so far is ‘Young Lust’
Give the three that are here a listen and if you like what you here, but the album! Seriously you’ll probably end up having on repeat as well.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I think it’s love - Sportsday Megaphone
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Young Lust - Sportsday Megaphone
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Adventures after hours - Sportsday Megaphone
Now for something a little more 80’s, Ladyhawke has been appearing in and around the internet for quite some time now, popping up on music blogs from time to time. And I will be the first to admit that at first I wasn’t so sure, her singles took a while to take hold of me and her songs are very much the sort of songs that grow on you over time. Her album is exactly the same, on first listen it was a decent album but nothing great then it kept popping up on shuffle and now I love it. It’s easy to listen to, flows nicely and is the perfect companion to any car/bus/train ride.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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Lastly is Annie, I adored her last album ‘Anniemal’ it was pure electro goodness and her vocals are always so floaty you can’t help but want to listen. She is better than any of the solo female pop artists that you’d get plastered all over the front of your newspapers daily, and I was a little shocked when I heard Girls Aloud had written a song for her new album. The new album ‘Don’t Stop’ is a lot more pop sounding than her last, and a lot more commercial and if I am honest I’m still not totally sold yet however there are some great tracks on there.
The track bellow constantly gets stuck in my head (it’s easy to see why once you hear it) I’ve woken up often with it in my head, and it is a more of a ‘morning song before you get onto the bus’ than something to listen to while you’re riding around. Basically it asks that age old question ‘What do you want for breakfast?’, over and over again.
Give it a listen, it will be in your head for weeks and I will be to blame.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
That is all for now, enjoy listening to those when you’re on the bus, or in the car, or on a train, plane or any other transport type thing. Or even just walking, they are fun to walk too.
I am pretty busy this week doing shoots and editing photos however I will do another update soon I promise, my life is just so scheduled these days its hard to find the time but there will be one.
07.31.08I see you in your room, you’re wearing your bedroom costumeWell I’m having trouble sleeping lately, I’m not sure why it might have something to do with me completely screwing up my body clock or it could just be because it has been so boiling hot that my body feels like it’s attached to a furnace. I’m not sure.
I figured it was time for another music post, I’m probably going to make it a regular thing, I get through new music pretty quickly and I hear it’s good to share these days. I’ve spent most of these sleepless nights in bed with my headphones on listening to music at full volume I’m probably breaking my eardrums to be fair but it just never seems the same unless I hear it loud enough to burst a blood vessel. So this is my sleepless summer nights playlist.Download links underneath song samples (right click - save file as)
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head have been on my musical radar for a fair few months but I hadn’t taken the chance to listen to them enough if I’m honest, though with song titles like ‘Beard Lust’ I knew I had to give them a go. The release of their album ‘Glistening Pleasure’ seemed like a good excuse to me and what can I say, I’ve fallen in love with them.
Their songs remind me of a less slutty ‘Gravy Train!!!!’ and ‘Gameboy/Gamegirl’ with a slight witty edge, there’s a joyful and playfulness to their songs with sometimes slightly out of tune vocals but it works perfectly. I am very glad to say that the album hasn’t been overproduced which in this case is good. They’re the sort of band that shouldn’t be perfect and actually you really should go buy the album it’s a great danceable little thing with barely any bad songs on it.‘Bedroom Costume’ is in my opinion probably the most danceable song on the album, with a 1950’s sounding chorus line that you can’t help wanting to dance around too. It’s a gleeful little number about mutual peeping toms.
‘Beard Lust’ has to be a favorite just from the topic alone, because we all know everyone loves a hipster with a beard. I also wonder if it is the only song in existence that covers the topic of beards, I’m not sure but I’d hazard a guess that it probably is. Again it’s a happy song with imperfect vocals, the song completely changes at around the 2 minute mark though and is probably when it really comes into its own for me. Go beard love!Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bedroom Costume - Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
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Beard Lust - Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
I would say I got over ‘The Dresden Dolls’ a long long time ago, however I decided to give Amanda Palmer’s solo effort, ‘Who Killed Amanda Palmer’ a go anyway. I wouldn’t say it was a change of pace for her at all, and to be honest most of the songs may as well have been released as a Dresden Dolls album. This doesn’t mean they aren’t good songs in themselves, it just means it seems like more of the same from Palmer which probably isn’t a bad thing, when you’ve found a formula that works stick to it but even so I would have liked to have seen something different from her.
If I am honest most of the album is a bit low tempo for me, it does however make good night time listening especially during this hot, sticky summer nights. Two of the songs on the album really stand out for me, they are the most upbeat sounding even if they actually have rather dark, depressing lyrics. It almost makes me feel bad for wanting to tap my foot to them.‘Runs in the family’ is a ditty of a song with repeating beats with vocals that flow through them perfectly, it reminds me of various Dresden Dolls songs but still stands up on it’s own. It is about allergies, aliments, and various other things that seem to effect families that and wanting someone to fill you up.
‘Oasis’ is by far the happiest song on the entire album when I first heard the opening notes it made me smile, the tune itself is perfect and there is a point in the song where retro style backing vocals get overlaid with Palmer’s singing and it all comes together wonderfully. However the song itself isn’t a happy one, the lyrics are about rape and abortion it tells an interesting story of a girl at a party who becomes pregnant but doesn’t care because she’s sent a letter to Oasis. All of this aside however the song itself is magical sounding.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Runs in the Family - Amanda Palmer
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PNAU are an Australian dance music duo, who released their self titled album last year however their popularity has been slowly building around the internet and my like for their album has also been slowly growing. Other than the fact that they are both rather attractive the album itself is also pretty good though I have to admit I dismissed it the first time I listened to it, but it keeps cropping up on shuffle and I keep adding stars to songs.‘Embrace’ is by far my favorite on the album and features the amazing ‘LadyHawke’, the song itself is a slow builder but is totally worth it. The chorus is a joy to listen to and have a very familiar feeling to them, as though you’ve heard them somewhere before. Give it a try it might take you a while to fall in love with it, but you defiantly will.
‘Lover’ is also a standout track on the album for me, it has a more dance feel to it than Embrace and is a good song for the dance floor, again it’s a slow builder with a long musical intro that has plenty of electronic blips to keep you entertained. When the lyrics kick in however is when the song starts to work, there aren’t much in way of actual lyrics but what there is there is rather sweet. The song itself takes various twists and turns which I enjoy in a song.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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Finally, it’s time for something a little bit different. I don’t like Hip Hop, at all really however I do love a good remix and a good mash0up even if said genre is involved. Which leads me to E=603 has been compared to another mashup artist I like ‘Girl Talk’ where I can defiantly see the similarities between the two I have to say that I have listened to E=603’s latest album ‘Something for Everyone’ a whole lot more than I have listened to Girl Talk’s latest.
E=603, cuts together hip hop and R&B tracks laying them over indie and dance numbers, the songs are constantly changing which means there is little way to get bored and they are really great to dance to. The album has no gaps between songs and each one follows on from the last wonderfully, also the great thing is it is available in full for free on E=603’s site, go and download it here and eagerly await the new one that is supposed to be released this month.‘Crunk Colony’ starts off like the kind of song I would hate, that is until ‘The Postal Service’ backing kicks in after that is just a whole mp3 of amazing with the bleepy beats of The Postal Service merging into the guitar riffs of ‘The Strokes’ and it is this kind of thing that makes rap music listenable to me. Give it a go, you’ll be surprised.
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05.07.08first signs of summer (summer playlist 1)S
o it’s getting slightly warmer, and only slightly. the sun isn’t going home until at least half past seven and night now but still likes to wake you up at six.
It means, summer is coming and there’s nothing better than a little bit of upbeat music to get you in the summer mood. So as the sun is coming up way to early most mornings and going down way to late most nights when I can’t sleep I find myself tapping my feet to these. (download links under song samples)
It is true, I adore Zeigeist. I don’t care if they are a complete rip off of The Knife, I don’t care if essentially they are not as good because a whole part of me likes them more than their copied counterparts.
I adore every song on their album ‘The Jade Motel’, as well as every song on their previous self titled EP. Their songs are so full of slick beats all overlaid with sexy vocals laced with a swedish accent that I can’t stop myself from wanting to dance like an idiot whenever I hear them.
‘Fight with Shattered Mirrors’ is a track from the album, and though the most underproduced song on the album is one of my favorites, the vocal layering makes my heart happy.
‘Dawn/Night’ is probably my favorite Zeigeist song of all time, wreaking of the same beats and rhythms that make ‘The Knife’ brilliant but with its very own Zeigeist spin.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Fight with Shattered Mirrors - Zeigeist
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Tilly and the Wall have always been favorites of mine, what with their tap dancing ways replacing the drums and their happy, jolly vocals being able to lift my spirits at any time. Along with their sweet but heartbreaking slow songs like ‘Lost Girls’ that really get you in the heart.
However, for their latest single ‘Beat Control’ Tilly and the Wall are taking their sound in a new direction, gone is the tap dancing - much to my horror at first. And in it’s place are electronic beats and 80s sounding vocals. Needless to say it is a welcome departure that has had be dancing to it for the past month. Now it is your turn.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Beat Control - Tilly and the Wall
I’m not ashamed to admit it, The Long Blondes last album dissapointed me completely. I’d heard the demo’s, & I’d loved the demo’s but the album wrecked them for me and it was something I just couldn’t get over. However, their latest offering ‘Couples’ has more than made up for my dissapointment in the last. Most noticeably the track ‘Guilt’ from the opening sounds to the ending vocals the song makes me want to tap my feet and go out and dance, and everyone loves to dance.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I probably should have gotten the embarrasing one out of the way first, but here it is now. What can I say, I adore Sophie Ellis Bextor, always have from the first moments I saw her perfect pale skin on television during my teens she jumped off the screen like a more fashionable less needy snow white. Maybe I have an obsession with females with pale skin and oversized heads but I think she’s beautiful.
Her earlier albums consisted of her very catchy and danceable singles, and a few other stand out tracks her attempts at ballads usually let me down as I feel her voice lends it self better to a more upbeat sound.
She’s had quite a spell of absense what with wedding a member of ‘The Feeling’ and all that comes with it, however she returns on a form better than all her previous attempts with ‘Trip the Light Fantastic’ which i’ve had on repeate for a while now, I won’t say I adore every song but there are a fair few stand out tracks. ‘China Heart’ is one of these songs I’m not sure i’ll ever get sick of it.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
China Heart - Sophie Ellis Bextor
I think I first heard Ladytron when I was around fifteen, I’m twenty one now. You do the math. It however was like an audio orgasm to me, love at first hear you might say. I can’t even remember now which song was my first but I remember I adored it.
The new Ladytron album ‘Velocifero’ is a slight departure from their old sounds, but still sticks well to Ladytron routes, each song rolls out of the album and slides into your ears, unobtrusive but delightful with sexy electronics and the usual Ladytron slick vocals.
‘Ghosts’ is one of my favorite album tracks, however the ‘Toxic Avenger’ remix of the track by far surpasses the original for me - maybe it’s just because I’ve been more in a dancey mood lately, or maybe just because I feel it’s handling is better. Either way it is a delight to hear.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Ghosts (Toxic Avenger Remix) - Ladytron
Enjoy!
