DO WHAT THE SONG SAY

I know it's been a while but I have for once been quite busy. Anyway, on to more important matters...

Merida and I went to Offset Festival at the end of August which was a laff. It was quite odd as it was a really small festival and you could reach everything within one minute. However, I like this because I am a lazy person and don't like having to walk for ages to get back to your camp/go see another band/eat a pie, etc.

Wire were incredibly uninteresting and disappointing - they did not play any of their good old songs and were boring to watch. I loved Metronomy because I love Metronomy and their light up shirts. They played in a really small tent which was overflowing with people and it was a nice atmosphere etc etc. Chromehoof were well good: sparkly costumes and an amazing front woman with jerky dance moves. I have forgotten a lot of the bands I saw but there were lots of good ones. Will also never forget No Bra and how I just DON'T GET IT, it was really bad.

Here are some songs that I have been listening to this morning:




N.E.R.D - My Drive Thru ft. Santogold and Julian Casablancas

Timbaland - Throw It On Me ft. The Hives

NOW DID YOU REALLY MISS ME

Hello readers! Firstly, I must apologise for my absence, my computer has been causing havoc all over the shop and finally had to be destroyed. It's a sad sad situation. HOWEVER! I now have a lovely new laptop and can resume my regular(ish) updates.

There are three songs which I cannot stop playing repeatedly at the moment. The first is the disco classic 'Ring My Bell' by Anita Ward. Here, have a dose of unadulterated disco magic.

Anita Ward -Ring My Bell

The second is a fairly recent (I think) single by Telepathe.

Telepathe - Chromes on it

And the third is by U.S. Girls, another treat from Siltbreeze, the song is called 'Don't Understand That Man', it's a very hypnotic and also kind of melancholy song. I think it's great, unfortunately I can't seem to download it but here's a ling to the myspace page where you can listen to it.

http://www.myspace.com/usgirlsss

Well, I hope you enjoy those little nuggets. Just briefly I though I'd mention a band called Pifco, from Leeds. I'm perhaps not as skilled as summing up their sound as Mike driver of Drowned in Sound is, so here's what he's got to say :

"Their grunge sound is reminiscent of early Sonic Youth, with a heavy dose of jerky punk rock similar to Coachwhips and a splash of electro indie pop akin to The Fall. Probably the most wholesome recipe you’ll ever let pour into your ears. "

They have a new album out called Pifco-A-Go-Go out now, again, I am unable to download any of their songs but here is their myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/pifco1

This weekend Grace and I will be partying at Offset festival so I am sure you have many a review to look forward to!

FIRE AND FURY

I have recently become addicted to The Wire since the first series boxset appeared in our house. I was resistant at first as it looked like another programme about police and drugs and blah blah blah but it is better than that. And the themetune is a real good cover of a Tom Waits song.
The Blind Boys of Alabama - Way Down in the Hole

Here is Charlie Brooker talking about his love for The Wire:

MUSIC OF THE PAST

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

HERE IT COMES

Simian - LA Breeze
Good old Simian. I love how they warn you about the approaching verse/chorus/noisy singing. Yeah, woah, should be here soon.... yep.... oh, here it comes.... yeah, here comes la breeze (whatever that is). The singer does indeed look like he's going to have an aneurysm.

GET IT, ONE TWO THREE

Au - RR vs. D

I have had a good week and it is finally not raining, so here is a celebratory song. It sounds a bit like a parade... with pianos ... and lots of handclaps. I can't make out any of the words so I just make up my own and dance like this <<<<<

NO LOVE FOR NOBODY

After careful consideration I have decided that if everyone had a theme tune that followed them around, mine would have to be this song. That probably makes me look like a loser. It is not my favourite song, and it is also one of those things I listen to in private... but I think the way it is describes my state of mind - slightly mad. I just think it's great for walking along the street to:

Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - March of the Siamese Children

This song has been in my head constantly over the past few days. It's really catchy, the rhythm in the words or something ... but then you try and attempt to sing it yourself and it's really difficult.
Nina Simone - Love Me or Leave Me

GYMNOPEDIST

Today is Gay Pride and it is raining, which is very depressing as I wanted to go drink in the park all day. Here is a bit of depressing music to soundtrack this sad day:
Erik Satie - Trois Gnossienes - I. Lent
Satie was this incredibly eccentric man who was always seen wearing the same grey velvet suit. When he died and people went through his belongings, they found at least six of the same suit, and over 100 umbrellas in his room. Strange man.


PS: Our trip was great, although unfortunately (or fortunately..) there was no Europop but a lot of 'American Boy'.

TYRE ME OUT

Adieu! Me and Grace are off on a European Odyssey so that mean unfortunately you will be left stranded for two weeks with out any new audio or visual delights. Deepest Apologies.

Anyway, Grace and I were at a party the other night, whilst chatting we got on to the subject of KaitO, a little-known British band who split up in 2006, however we were fortunate to see them play in Brighton, with Erase Errata supporting Le Tigre, probably in...2004? Not sure. Anyway, they also supported Liars in 2006 and Plan B called them "Britain's most exciting guitar band."

KaitO - Try Me Out

(That's what I used to look like when I went on holiday)

MISSING ALL THE FUN

I went to see Mamma Mia! on Friday - it was WICKED. Try as I might, I find it very difficult to be cynical (I enjoyed the Sex and the City film as well). There's something about dance routines that always sucks me in. It also reminded me of my love for ABBA, so here is a song that wasn't actually in the film but needs to be heard:

ABBA - You Owe Me One

I'M NOT THE SUN

Andre 3000 and Kelis should do more stuff together.

Everyone was quite keen on 'Millionaire' a few years ago but I actually think 'Dracula's Wedding' is better, possibly because of the lyrics. Gotta love dem puns.




Kelis ft. Andre 3000 - Millionaire
Andre 3000 ft. Kelis - Dracula's Wedding

KIM AND KIM, KIM AND KIM

How many band references can you recognise in Mary Lou Lord's song 'His Indie World'??



Mary Lou Lord - His Indie World

Obviously, she sucks.

Another song that references Huggy Bear (there's one if you didn't get it) is this one by Free Kitten. Free Kitten should be an amazing supergroup. Fronted by Kim Gordon, they consists of members from Pussy Galore, Pavement and Boredoms. However, they only really have a few good songs, it doesn't matter though because the good songs are really good.

Free Kitten - Greener Pastures

WOULD RATHER BE WITH CATS

I love advert music. Obviously there are the quite uninspired adverts using songs that were basically made for use on TV soundtracks, and there are the ones which use your favourite song over and over and over until even of the mention of the advert or the song sends you into a blind rage.

But in general, I think adverts can sometimes be a good way to discover new songs you probably would have looked over elsewhere. It's something about putting the music to some images. Like that ad with all the colourful bouncing balls and Jose Gonzales' cover of 'Heartbeats' playing alongside - that was great. I don't watch that much TV either so I don't tend to get that sick of adverts.

Anyway, this song I first heard on an advert last year and I thought the visuals (screenshot above) really fit it:
Minotaur Shock - Muesli

A really stupid band name but a very nice song. The ad that this one accompanied was again for a phone and involved a bicycle riding around an empty parking lot at night. Which I thought was sweet. Didn't make me want to change phone networks though so they've failed on that one.
The Funky Lowlives - Time To Let You Go

I had heard this song before the advert, but watching a dog sing it made it even better:
Spencer Davis Group - I'm A Man

ROUNDABOUT AND ROUNDABOUT

This is just a drawing I did for a zine and then decided it was not good enough for said zine so I have pawned it off to Lost & Found. Lucky you.

Today I have been enjoying the musical delights of Talbot Tagora, a lovely band despite being named after a car. Here is their cover of the Elastica CLASSIC 'Connection'. Oh this song brings back memories, Talbot Tagora aren't the only ones to have covered this number, guess who else did a cover? Only my fellow blogger Grace Helmer and her short-lived band 'myself'! Those were the days...

Talbot Tagora - Connection

Of course, we all now how this song rips off Wire's 'Three Girl Rhumba', but there's no need to get petty.

FEELING SO SORE I TOOK ME OUT DANCING

Two days before my 18th birthday I went to go and see My Bloody Valentine at the Roundhouse in London. I went by myself, which is something I have never done before. At the door you had to show your ticket and in exchange you got give a set of earplugs. Obviously at the beginning I thought "I will not need earplugs, I'm no wimp, I'm hardcore " but the final number was followed by 20 minutes of pure noise, which was INCREDIBLE but so very very loud (though any quieter wouldn't have been so great), so I sheepishly plugged up my ears to avoid any impending brain damage.

The second number they played was probably my favourite My Bloody Valentine song - When You Sleep, and I do confess that I nearly shed a tear. The one thing that slightly irked me, however, was this absolutely dickhead standing in front of me - he had obviously come with a group of his friends and he was papping away like nobody's business, anyway, being the tall lass that I am I happened to glance over whilst he was writing a text, this text described how he was hating the gig, thought the band were "apalling" and didn't see why anybody liked this kind of music, he also wrote "this is for people who wear trainers - so they can do some shoegazing!" Really, what a cunt.
I digress, overall it was amazing and I am so glad I went.

So! New Abe Vigoda album out on July 8th entitled Skeleton. It's awesome. Very tropical and fun, I highly recommend it. Here is the first track:
Abe Vigoda - Dead City/Waste Wilderness
Another band I've been enjoying recently are Mutators. It's pretty noisy.By this I do not mean that the noise is pretty.
Mutators - Instinct

SHE'S UP TO SOMETHING

Yesterday I went up to see some stuff by Jake and Dinos Chapman at the White Cube Gallery. Titled 'If Hitler Had Been a Hippy How Happy Would He Be', there were defaced paintings, 'vandalized' paintings by Hitler (like the one above) and a recreation of their previous work 'Hell' -which had burnt down in a basement fire - now named 'Fucking Hell'. Lovely. 'Fucking Hell' comprised of nine cases filled with miniature scenes and figures of war and destruction types of things. Lots of heads on poles, nazis and random limbs everywhere. It was the kind of piece that photos don't really do justice to and it was great to walk around each one and look up close at the amount of detail - the expressions on each little face especially.

The White Cube seems to never have any words to go along with the works they show so you end up trying to interpret it for yourself rather than relying on the gallery's description. However, I had no bloody idea about the Hitler pictures, which are apparently concerned with the insight you may be able to get from an artist's work, and how little you could have gotten from Hitler's really crap landscapes.

I also went to see the BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery, which as usual was full of hyper-real photographic style portraits. It makes you think what the point is really, when they could have just taken a photograph and gotten the exact same result. A lot of it seems just to exist to show off technical skill. Maybe I am just jealous that I can't paint like that.

^Boots No. 7 (2), by Harriet White.

Anyway, here is a song. I especially like when the phone rings and someone goes 'Hello?'
Out Hud - It's For You

YOU ARE SOUND ITSELF

The reason I haven't 'updated' for quite a bit is EXAMS but they are all over now, hurraaah! Now I can waste time without feeling too guilty that I'm not doing any work.

Calico Horse - Idioteque
I'm going to see Radiohead play today in Victoria Park, hurrah! However, the weather is not looking too good, and I don't actually know when it starts.
This first song is a cover of a Radiohead one. This represents one side of my music taste in that it is a cover version in a style you never thought you'd hear the original in. It is a bit like a weird lullaby ... Although it would be a bit weird to sing this to a child.

Castanets - You Are The Blood
Because I read quite a lot and at the same time listen to playlists on repeat, certain songs seem to become associated with books and sometimes particular parts of books. They can take on the atmosphere of the writing or even add to it. This happened with this song and I like it even more now as it's taken on deeper meanings in some way. It also fits in with the Calico Horse song as they're both a bit creepy.

SO MUCH DE-FAMILIARIZED BY DINT OF DOCTORED VODKA

SILTBREEZE is my chosen topic today. Siltbreeze is a Philidelphia-based independant record label which has signed many a "kick-ass" band such as Sebadoh, Guided by Voices, Times New Viking, Harry Pussy, Teenage Panzerkorps etc etc.

I guess you'd say Siltbreeze have a pretty strong DIY punk focus with most of their bands, I don't know, maybe I should've done some more research but really I just want to share some mp3s that I am enjoying right now.

The first is by Pink Reason, a band I found a little while back. It's funny, every Pink Reason song that I've heard sounds completely different to the last, probably partly because their music is pretty hard to find, at least on soulseek.
Pink Reason - Borrowed Time
This next one is by Eat Skull, who sound like they could be some horribly scary death metal band...but aren't.
Eat Skull - Survivable Spaces
And finally, The Yips or Yips, I'm not sure whether they include the 'The' or not but I do.
The Yips - Muhammad Ali

MISTER PANTS FOR ROMANCE

Ella Fitzgerald - Too Darn Hot

Shocking Blue - Hot Sand

I'M REALLY HOT. I can't be bothered to write about these, Ella says it all really.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE A NIBBLE AT YA SHOE

By David Shrigley.
As well as bands that dress up in funny costumes, I am a sucker for songs with strange lyrics. You probably wouldn't want to meet the narrators of either I Wanna Bite Ya or Fake Yer Death, because they can't seem to pronounce pronouns correctly and seem to be strangely concerned with biting, nibbling, the effects of biting and nibbling, and details on how you can fake your death.
I like the way I Wanna Bite Ya builds up, first seemingly concerned with how you would react, and then just coming out with their full intentions (they want to bite you). Fake Yer Death is a bit creepy, although it is handy if you were planning such a scheme as it's quite informative.

Planningtorock - I Wanna Bite Ya
Orion Rigel Dommisse - Fake Yer Death
-----------------------------------------------------
PS: I love this:
Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

BENEATH THE ROSES

I meant to post this about a week ago but forgot:

Last Friday I also went to the White Cube Gallery to see Gregory Crewdson's new works for his series 'Beneath the Roses'. He seems really obsessed with snow, rain and fog. I like his work because it's all ambiguous and cinematic and the atmospheric use of light is quite 'inspiring', although his photographs on show as part of 'Twilight' at the V&A in 2006 were a bit better I though. I also find it interesting that it takes weeks to construct just one image, but that's understanding considering the level of detail in each picture.

Anyway it's over now so you can't go see it anymore, skanked.

CAN'T GET THAT TRUMPET OUT OF MY HEAD

This is a drawing (or maybe a painting, I'm not quite sure) by Robert Longo from his 'Men in Cities' series, I just put it up because I like it really, I saw some of his work at this exhibition called Panic Attack! last year I think it was, which focussed around "punk art", there was some pretty amusing pornographic art from everyone's favourite pandrogynous artist/musician etc etc Genesis P-Orridge.

Today I am simply posting some songs that have been stuck in my head, CURIOUSLY they all include the word 'head' in the title.

Times New Viking - (My Head)

Kleenex/LiLiPUT - Heidi's Head

Sharades - Dumb Head

"...IT'S BETTER THAN BREAD AND CHOCOLATE."

Today I am posting some covers for y'all. The first one is by a band that I am a big fan of, the Angry Angles, this is one of the many projects of the infamous Jay Reatard (here's his blog), they were a short lived but great band. You may already be aware of Jay Reatard's solo material but if not I do highly recommend checking it out. If not, you could always just watch the YouTube video of him punching some man. This is their cover of a Wire song. I love Wire. Grace and I will be seeing them later on this summer at Offset festival so stay tuned for our reviews and that.

Angry Angles - The 15th

And next, we all know how many covers there have been of Blue Monday - fucking loads. Here's one by the infamous Country Teasers. It's a nice, sloppy, scruffy, slippy, slappy-dashy live cover. You'll love it.

Country Teasers - Blue Monday

MY B-A-B-Y, BABY

On Friday I went to see Broken Social Scene at Shepherd's Bush Empire. They weren't actually as good as the time I saw them at Reading Festival, but that's probably because last time they had Emily Haines from Metric to sing 'Anthems For a Seventeen Year Old Girl' and I had consumed a lot more alcohol. They did however do this cool experimental bit where they 'looked at the melodies of conversation' by played about with recordings of people talking.

Here is a song from some album from some time (too tired to look it up):

Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)

Their support was The Brunettes, who seem to really love handclaps. They didn't play the one song I had heard (Loopy Loopy Love), but as it turns out they're behind the song off that Hollyoaks ad. I thought they were actually really enjoyable and put on a good show - including a dance contest where the prize was 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' "which had only been run over once". Plus they had New Zealand accents.

The Brunettes - Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth

THE HEAVIES DANCE IT AND THE FREAKS TOO

EUROVISION has come round again - this Saturday - and I love it ... Mostly because of Terry Wogan getting gradually more inebriated as the night wears on; it is incredibly entertaining. Apparently Wogan was told off by the 'head of Eurovision' last year because he doesn't take it seriously..!
Spain has an amazing entry:

By amazing I obviously mean insane. That isn't the final version of the song, but I find watching this version with the subtitles a very enjoyable experience. I like the way he can play the guitar with his nose.

Surprisingly, France have an entry that I like in a non-ironic way:
Sebastien Tellier - Divine
It's really catchy and fun and completely unlike the Sebastien Tellier stuff I had heard before - which was actually just the song on the Lost in Translation soundtrack.
Also, here's a Midnight Juggernauts remix for kicks. They've slowed it down and the first minute or so wouldn't sound out of place as the soundtrack for a moon landing:
Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Midnight Juggernauts remix)

Of course, nothing will ever top my absolute favourite entry from the Ukraine last year. The costumes, the dancing, the 'breakdown':

Check the Popbitch guide if you want to explore more of the weird and wonderful world of Eurovision.

TALKING ALCHEMY AND EGGPLANTS TO A DOG

Greetings all (I use the word 'all' somewhat artistically here), I have come bearing gifts, musical gifts. Today I will be informing you about a band I came across recently called Major Organ and the Adding Machine, their music has a sort of Animal Collectivey feel to it but I only say this because I don't know who else I could compare them to. Major Organ and the Adding Machine are a product of Elephant Six Recordings and are a sort of super-group with contributors from various other bands in the company such as Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power and Of Montreal. To be honest I think all of these bands are pretty mediocre, however Major Organ and the Adding Machine are just kind of fun and summery and "ZANY".

There have also been rumours that there is to be a Major Organ motion picture, so hold on to your hats.

Major Organ and the Adding Machine - His Master's Pet Whistles

I couldn't find a good enough picture of MAATAM, so instead here's a picture of some cats in bikinis.

SAY NO TO DRUGS

Why aren't there more album covers like this beauty from Devastatin' Dave (The Turntable Slave)??

Devastin' Dave has made it his mission to inform the kids about drugs, however due to his 'off the wall' style of rapping, you get the impression that Dave himself is whacked up on the funny stuff and you will immediately want to reach for the class-As just to make this experience more bearable.

Hence Dave, you have FAILED.

Destatin' Dave (The Turntable Slave) - Zip Zap Rap

THERE'S ONLY ONE THING YOU CAN DO WITH A PIANO LIKE THAT

The Bran Flakes - Give Yourself A Stereo Check Out

Before you continue, this song is necessary to check that your speakers are working properly.

This is the kind of song you listen to once, but any band that dresses up has my seal of approval - check the photos bit on their website. Every band should dress up like that.