February 7, 2010
The couple of early days of sunshine we’ve had in London recently have led to the equally early stages of development of an optimistic ‘Summer in the Park’ playlist in the office – this song is one of the foundation members.
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
I’ve been saying it “yee-sayer” the past few weeks but actually just discovered it’s “yay-sayer”…I’d quite like to call them “woo-hoo!-sayer” but then no one would know what I’m talking about so…possibly best not to.
When you hear the track, if you haven’t already, you’ll understand why – it’s so positive, happy, upbeat, inspiring and about keeping your head up when things get tough.
“But your lows will have their complement of highs“
- the lyric that just about sums up the song.
It’s the first single from the Brooklyn-based trio’s second album, Odd Blood, out on Mute Records on Monday (8th Feb) and I was excited to find out they’ll be at KoKo in May as a follow up to the sold out show at Heaven in a couple of weeks.
Pre-order the album here! (Or just buy it when it’s released tomorrow…)
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February 3, 2010
The song came up on my iTunes the other day – dropped in from the Poptarts Suck Toasted blog – and I’m loving the swagger.
In my head it’s a lazy Hustle track, a song that’s fully deserving of a slow-step choreographed dance routine – oversized indoor shades, flares and open-collar shirts with a couple of buttons open from the top an absolute must.
Lindstrom & Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool
Lindstrøm and Christabelle – Lovesick
The duo are Norwegian disco-funk creator Hans-Peter Lindstrøm and vocalist Christabelle “Solale” Sandoo and the track is from their album Real Life Is No Cool released on Smalltown Supersound last month.
It’s definitely another “Yes – I am the s**t” track – cf Nextmen – but less of an “I just did something cool”, more of an “I’m cool because I am” … and you can hear it in the vibe.
The difference is possibly subtle, but still a difference… 
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February 2, 2010
Voice of the Seven Woods
If you got to this page through my twitter feed (@nishajl), you may have seen me raving about Voice of the Seven Woods‘ self-titled release this morning.
Buying this album was long overdue – Rick Tomlinson at Cafe OTO was my entirely unexpected gig highlight of last year but I mentioned him, and the gig, as part of an Otis Taylor post before discovering his performing name. So there’s been no explicit reference to Voice of the Seven Woods up here until now.
The album is mostly instrumental acoustic guitar folk but there’s some psychedelic electric guitar and a few tracks with more of a Spanish, maybe Old West feel as well – Second Transition, Sayat Nova and The Smoking Furnace, in that order.
I remember distinctly from the Cafe OTO gig the audience reaction pretty much fell into two categories – those that were a bit bored, fidgety and felt the need to “powder their noses” several times during the 20 minutes or so of guitar solo and those who, myself included, were completely absorbed in and hypnotised by the intensity of the performance.
I always said I would jump at the chance to see him again and it’s finally come up – thanks Charlotte for pointing it out – Rick’s back on Feb 16, again at Cafe OTO, but this time under the moniker Voice of the Seven Thunders, as part of the Requiem for Jack Rose show.
The new album, due out this month, is available for pre-order on Tchantinler Recordings – I won’t be waiting 6 months before I have this one in my hands!
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January 30, 2010
I was watching the Arsenal v Stoke game on Sunday (no digs, please) and one of the ads that followed the half-time analysis was a Jaguar commercial featuring ‘Pot Kettle Black’ by Tilly & the Wall.
Jaguar & Gossip Girl - BFFs
I recognised it straight away as it has really distinctive riff and, more to the point, was used on ITV2 about a year ago to soundtrack a multiple-promo ad for US teen drama Gossip Girl, Celebrity Juice and Paris Hilton’s New Best Friend. Thanks to nifty little iPhone app Shazam, I was able to tag it that time around and figure out what it was within seconds.
It got me thinking about double-syncs in general. It’s more than likely the creatives behind the Jaguar ad did their research, knew the track had been used before but made a conscious decision to use it anyway – perhaps on the basis that the people watching at the time a teen drama/reality TV promo would be aired were unlikely to be the same demographic who would be watching during a slot appropriate for a Jaguar commercial – an FA Cup game – bar the occasional anomaly like myself!
So in this case, it was probably of little consequence. For a more musically visible brand, however…Read More
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January 26, 2010
I feel genuinely lucky to have been present at the Roundhouse this Sunday night for a live show from composer Nico Muhly, performing with and directing Britton Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra.
Not only was the performance from Nico himself magical and enthralling, especially his solo opening piece, ‘Mad Rush’ by Philip Glass, we were also audience to 4 beautiful American folk songs with vocals provided by the lovely Sam Admidon (who I saw last year at the Monto) and what, for me at least, was a surprise cameo from Beth Orton.
Beth Orton - Trailer Park
Sam and Beth performed a duet of a song from Sam’s forthcoming album, I See The Sign, due for release on Bedroom Community in March.
Seeing Beth reminded me of this track:
Beth Orton – She Cries Your Name
Spirited folk melodies etched by strings and given definition by the sturdy vocal provide a subtle cloak for some lively beats and blips in my favourite track from her 2000 album, Trailer Park.
I first heard it on an episode of Roswell (2.17 – Cry Your Name), a show that did the *right* thing and ended on an extremely high note after 3, nicely wrapped up seasons, containing only a single episode I feel the need to skip when re-watching the DVD box set.
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January 25, 2010
A little delayed but – I was at The Luminaire last week for a long-awaited London show. It was… very strange.
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
It took me a while to warm to the sound as he started with an instrumental electronic number, I tend to be more about the vocal, but as soon as Dayve “Memory Tapes” Hawk opened his mouth, I was dancing.
I half feel that the venue wasn’t entirely appropriate to the sound. Not meaning to criticise The Luminaire as it’s a wonderfully obscure and intimate little venue but the last show I went to there was Chris Garneau and at that one the majority of the audience was sitting cross-legged in pin-drop silence on the “dancefloor”.
Memory Tapes requires movement. If not full-on rave glowstick dancing (which might be a little over the top) then at least a trance-like sway with a raised arm every now and then. Dreamy and almost hypnotic at times.
My favourite track of the set was Plain Material, which is on his debut full-length release, Seek Magic (available from Rough Trade UK as a double CD) and he’s doing a run of further live shows over the couple of months – 4 in the UK in March. Last week was fantastic – I’d highly recommend trying to catch one of them.
Nothing too strange there really…except that he ran off the stage at the end of his set without saying anything. Literally… nothing. We weren’t sure whether he was coming back, whether to applaud, whether he was done. Hung about for 5 or so and then left… so I really hope there wasn’t an encore.
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January 23, 2010
Blue Foundation - Life of A Ghost
I don’t think I’m the only person who’s read all four of the Twilight novels and watched the two available movies – I couldn’t help myself, despite no longer being a target-market angst-ridden teenage girl. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, but I did enjoy them all on one level or another (though I am firmly of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer generation), be it story, or melodrama, or… comedy value.
I recently re-watched the first film and discovered that this song is on the soundtrack:
Blue Foundation – Eyes on Fire
It’s fairly dreamy electronica… but a dark and curious dream with a cinematic, other-worldly feel to it – so fairly apt for the Twilight soundtrack then :p
The Danish electro-group’s 2007 album, Life of A Ghost, from which this track was taken, is available to stream in full on last.fm and on spotify but this, for me, is the standout track.
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