April 2013 (playlist)

Last month's listening fun.

Summer BBQ Time Yet?

Ready for the sun and grassy parks.

Introducing Bondax - And the remix of the remixes?

March 2013 - The Playlist

What got us through miserable March??

Music Video Selector: Rhye - Open

A brilliant, gentle and sombre video for Rhye's track called 'Open'.

Rhye, contrary to common assumption, are made up by two producers: Copenhagen's Robert Hannibal, and Toronto's Mike Miloh. Despite the elusive nature of the duo, their relaxed sounds and mysterious videos are beginning to draw attention from all over.

The track itself has a beautiful, light and laid-back sound, that implies emotions and exhibits a real sense of honesty.

As for the video...what does it all mean?!

Just by looking at the YouTube comments, there is a collection of conceptions, ideas, and possible links to an underlying story in other Rhye videos. So, what next?

Monthly Playlist Ideas - February

A quick selection of MusicalShairs from February.

Legend Lyrics: Stornoway - Fuel Up

When the morning broke and the sky fell down

It went black as night and the wind blew round

And stole your directions, you lost your way home

And you felt like a passenger left by the road

But I'll tell you the reason you couldn't get home

Cause there's nowhere you've been 

And it's nowhere you're going

Home is only a feeling you get in your mind

From the people you love & you travel beside

Blast From The Past: Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix)

Destiny's Child really are survivors if people are still mixing their tracks.

December's Playlist

A quick list of listenable tracks from December. Nothing festive.

Underground Music

This tube map, gives a rather ropey guide of music genres and artists. 

Although I'm not sure how close Kanye West is to Portishead...

Buy the poster here: http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/exclusive-and-vintage/posters/product/music-on-the-tube-map.html .

Cover - Ben Howard: Figure 8

BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge gave Ben Howard a chance to show he can take any song, even the most recent tracks, and give them his strum.

Figure 8, originally by Ellie Goulding proves Ben Howard can take anything from scratch and keep your head up with it.

November's Playlist

Thursday Amble: The Submarines - 1940

A song to get you through Thursday, which is almost Friday, which is almost the weekend.

SeE ThInGS DIfFeREntLy

Last Month's Playlist

Here's last month's playlist to share!

Give it a shuffle, and enjoy.

Duet Cassette: Bastille & Gabrielle Aplin

After an array of unique covers, Bastille have teamed up with the innocent sound of Gabrielle Aplin for their latest spectrum to hit perfection:

Haunting Hibernation: Youth Lagoon

Hidden beneath a dusty dredge of emotion and blanketed under a leafy layer of mental dysphoria is Youth Lagoon, AKA Trevor Powers. The Californian musician released his debut album The Year of Hibernation in September 2011, and for me, it has taken a long cold year for Powers to come out of hibernation and find me.

Described as 'dream pop', 'experimental', 'atmospheric' and 'electronic', Powers' music is certainly eclectic; but there is something engaging about it, which makes Youth Lagoon stand out among others still sleeping in this genre. 

While complex euphoric music is no new feat, with different genres of euphoria emerging, The Year of Hibernation is a leafy mix of day dreaming, scenic songs, clever touches and beautiful lyrics that still make sense when you aren't listening to the words. It is easy listening music making you feel 'deep' inside. The digital chords, synthesized vocals, hollow beginnings, and progressive arrangements make the whole record a magical journey.

In fact, the more you listen, the more you get the impression that Powers himself has been on a journey through this record. 

'When I was seventeen, 

my mother said to me, 

"Don't stop imagining. 

The day that you do is the day that you die".

(From Seventeen)

His words are sometimes all over the places, and even a little whiney and repetitive, but at the heart of them is a world of stories. They are meaningful, even if you're not sure about their exact meaning. 

You wore a hoodless sweatshirt on your bed that night 

With black leggings, I've never seen your face so white

Your honesty was killing me 

The monsters in the room were all dancing to the music all around us

(From Montana)

Perhaps it is the sense that Powers himself has delved and explored deep into personal wounds, battles and emotions, that makes The Year of Hibernation come to life. It doesn't just feel like you are waking up the youthful hipster in yourself, but it feels like you are part of a very personal, very large following. Despite others being awoken to Youth Lagoon before me, I still feel a magical privacy with the music.

Cover: Bastille - What Would You Do

Bastille have covered the infamous City High rap song, 'What Would You Do', and it's beautiful. The South London quartet, headed up by Dan Smith, seem to infuse their own style and sound into everything they touch. Magic.

Rediscovery: Tracy Chapman

Rediscovering Tracy Chapman today.

I love this comment. It eloquently sums up someone's love, inspiration and admiration for the singer.

Gig Review: Dillon

MENU

Hoxton Square Bar and Grill, London

Sunday 21st October 2012

To Drink:
1 Gin & Tonic
1 Vodka + Tomato Juice (#Hangover)

For Starters:
Dillon's support act was made up of a beautiful female vocalist, a guitarist, and another guy doing, well, everything else apparently.

They made long, psychedelic interludes which would probably have been much more enjoyable if it was 5am on a Saturday night in a grimy east London basement club and I was wasted. However, it was not, and I was not.  The music was very electronic, almost tribal in places, and not something to sing along to, with no defined melody or catchy tracks. Nonetheless, the girls voice was rich.Whether she was singing words or just tuneful 'aaaaaaaaahs', I respected the interesting combinations of electronic instruments with clearly 3 talented musicians. But...none of this even matters, because they did not even introduce themselves or say hello. The mystery band of electric music-teers will remain ever mysterious nameless from my pallet.


For Mains:
What a cute dish. Her voice, although she was feeling under the weather and perhaps a little croaky, was beautiful. The tone and German accent gave off emotions, while the interesting melodies of her songs simmered with the right balance of meaning and tune.

For anyone unaccustomed to Dillon's music, I think it's a beautiful original concotion, like Lykke Li or Ellie Goulding, with an extra bite of atmosphere. It's quirky, imaginative, and always surprising.

Again, like the inconspicuous electric music-teers just before her, Dillon lacked a certain value of entertainment, or crowd interaction, perhaps because, it's just all about the music, dude. There was very little conversation, but as things started to relax, she started to get things going, and in a magical instant she had fans, ladies, fellas and the bar staff singing the chorus of 'tip tapping', rather impressively I thought, right from the start of the song to the finish, while she set up the verses.

Despite her beautiful voice, there was no telling whether Dillon was beautiful in the flesh. The entire set was in almost pitch darkness, with a couple of strobes brightening up occasionally like a flicker of hope, before descending once more into black. I understand the atmosphere, the interesting brooding with which darkness brings, and the rich, organic concentrate of music; however I wanted to see her. It was infuriating not to be looking at this beautiful Germanic creature, to the extent that the personableness of the gig itself was somewhat lost.

But, she managed to win us back losing her voice in the final encore, revealing that somewhere in the darkness, her cute personality was quietly and demurely singing '[past lover] fuck you. And die. Fuck you. And die' before she went off to nurse a lemsip and a strepsil.


For Pudding:
A walk to the tube in the rain, followed by a good night's sleep.

Fro Pas

Having an Afro is fun.
Blocking everyone behind you at the
gig from catching a glimpse of the band: not fun.
Corn roll that, or move to the back.