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I have spent the last week or so addicted to Adele. She's unavoidably talented, and you haven't got much hope of keeping her off your radar for long as it is, so you may as well submit to my shameless promotions now, no?
Hometown Glory is incredible, perfect and so many other adjectives. Whilst her accent when she talks slides in naturally with Kate Nash and Lily Allen, Adele's voice is closer in kin to Winehouse, or any given old soul singer. The song itself deals with Adele's love for the city of London and therefore already falls close to my heart thematically.
You haven't a hope of avoiding her, so download, sit back, smile and feel warm. Also, head over to her website and join the mailing list to get an equally awesome live version of the song.
Love your city.
mp3: 'Hometown Glory' by Adele
I've been a busy but very lucky boy this last couple of days. On Monday the small student-run music magazine for whom I write gave me an interview with one Ed Harcourt, who in case you weren't already aware is a talented Sussex-born singer-songwriter with six albums and a greatest hits to his name, all since 2000. I'd post you a track or two of his, but we spoke at one point of Radiohead's new venture in downloading and he twisted it to guilt me out terrifically. He was a very nice boy though.
Then, yesterday, I get given another interview. This time it was with Stephen Fretwell, another singer-songwriter, but one with whom I am far more aquainted (musically, at least). I met up with him on his tourbus, and whilst chatting casually about his friends, and my favourite band, Elbow, Fretwell casually revealed that the band's bassist was actually asleep in the bunk next to him at that moment. He lifted the curtain to prove it, too. So that was exciting. But to the point...
Fretwell is arguably the best singer-songwriter England has on offer right now. His 2004 debut Magpie is full of delicate and sparse tracks comparable to both Dylan and Oberst, and now his sophmore offering, Man On The Roof, has just been released. It tops Magpie, which itself was fantastic, in ways unforeseeable. There are still the Dylan sounds, the Bright Eyes nature. But influences more diverse, and equally more close to home, are easily picked up on. A particular influence is, indeed, the band Elbow, and this comes through no where better than on The Scheme. It was a small disappointment Fretwell chose not to play it in his gig last night, seeing as he'd snatched not just the bassist of Elbow, but the drummer too, for his tour. But I'm okay with it, he's a fantastic live artist, and equally awesome in the comfort of your own headphones.
mp3: 'The Scheme' by Stephen Fretwell
What better way to spend a Saturday blog than with a Saturday Session from The Shins? The Saturday Sessions is a fantastic compilation from BBC Radio 2 that outshines its more famous counterpart, Live Lounge, by a mile. It's a similar idea - bands pop in to the studio and perform a session featuring a cover. The key is in the bands that are invited to take part. Live Lounge had rubbish Brit soul-singers and such, where The Saturday Sessions invite bands such as this week's choice, The Shins.
They cover Pink Floyd's 'Breathe' a song I had never previously heard by a band I tend to rank as the dullest of all bands, ever. I stick with that, by the way. But The Shins inject an uncharacteristically dark feel to their version, and James Mercer's distinctive voice shines here.
Also, a secondary Shins treat for you - a version of their song 'Gone For Good' recorded on the streets of Montmartre in Paris. The sound quality isn't fantastic, in fact it's far from it, but what it lacks in clarity it more than makes up for in loveliness.
mp3: 'Breathe (Breathe In The Air)' by The Shins
mp3: 'Gone For Good (Montmartre Acoustic Street Version)' by The Shins
I'm back, I am. I'm sorry I went AWOL. Summer beckoned, and I went everywhere - Glastonbury, Ireland, a little escape to France. Then I spent eight weeks living back up here in Nottingham without the slightest hint of internet. Actually, I had the slightest hint, but the £3-an-hour internet in the Tourist Information Centre just wasn't enough to keep this going. But back to business.
I posted a while back now on Emmy The Great, back when I had only one song of hers, and back before the three occasions I was lucky enough to see her live over the summer. She's magical live, if that isn't too Disney for you. She really just grabs the audience's attention and refuses to let go til she's done. Today I present you with another wonderful track by her, a track that pretty much kicks 'Canopies and Grapes' back into the last millenium. 'Easter Parade' is about Emmy's atheism, ultimately, but also her acceptance with other's not sharing her beliefs (or lack thereof). It doesn't matter if you believe in something or not, though, because that isn't the point of this song. In fact, that sentence is what I get out of this song - I understand it to literally mean that it doesn't matter if you believe in something or not, it shouldn't get in the way of things. I doubt I'm right though, I have a tendency to be way off on these things. Judge for yourself.
Still regarded by almost everyone remotely sensible as the most influential band ever to exist, The Beatles, in their remaining form at least, will be celebrating a special anniversary today. Well, actually, it's far more likely that Paul and Ringo have let the landmark completely escape them, and are instead just lazing about in their respective gardens on what has turned out to be a rather lovely sunny day.
Whilst they let their minds wander to reconstructive nose surgery and Starbucks, though, the rest of the world remembers forty years ago today - or, at least in the case of younger folk such as I, recognizes the historic release of that day. It was indeed the first day of June in the summer of '67 that The Beatles, then still the fuel behind an ever-growing British music scene, released their Sgt Pepper LP, widely recognised as one of, if not their best albums. Why though? Well, simple enough really. Maybe I'll break it down for you...
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Right, so yeah. It's really only an introduction that allows the rest of the album to claim its status as a concept album. It's so not, but who cares, right? So many questions, so little time - Who is Sgt. Pepper? What are the crowd laughing at? Does it really matter? No. No it does not.
A Little Help From My Friends - And then straight into this sweet little ditty, complete with call-and-response, a catchy chorus and bridge, and an earnest yearning for love! My goodness, it doesn't get much better than this.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - Of course, I've been wrong before. How a sweet song like A Little Help... can so perfectly fit with the eclectic stumble of Lucy I will never understand. It isn't until you look at the tracklisting of Sgt Pepper that you realise just how many covers it has spawned. The last track - Wet Wet Wet, this has had the honour of Elton John's cover, and the complete must-watch-can't-not-watch cover of William Shatner. It is, needless to say really, why these covers are so numerous. Lucy is strange, but sweet, like the dream you always wanted.
Getting Better - My favourite chorus of the album, Getting Better is again upbeat, but throbs with synths, handclaps and McCartney. My goodness, if you can't find a hint of every indie band, every singer-songwriter, and dammit if I say so, but even McFly in this song. Scratch away the gleaming surface and darker lyrics (at least for The Beatles) arise - used to beat my wife? Oh dear me.
Fixing A Hole - A slow starter, perhaps, but such a classic Beatles track - a chorus where the rhythm never goes quite where is the norm, so much so that eventually its style becomes a norm itself. It really doesn't matter if he's wrong or right.
She's Leaving Home - Right. I was fortunate enough to see Paul McCartney live in London a few years ago. We were miles away - seriously, I had to travel away from London from my home to get to our seats. I think we were in France by the time we sat down. Still, when Paul sang this, barebones and heart-rendering, it stuck with me. It could be seen as a cheap trick to stir emotions by choosing every parent's worst nightmare, but oh no. It's sensitive without being overly-sentimental, and that is the magic of it.
For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite - It is so easy to argue this track is thrown in purely to entertain the idea of the 'concept', but the quiet march and circus spectacular of the music just throws a fantastic sense of oddity into an already eccentric album.
Within You Without You - If Bono ever says that this was not the inspiration for the title of With Or Without You he's a lying bastard and I'll track him down and get him. That said, the sound couldn't be any different from U2's uber-ballad. Actually, if I'm honest, this song bores the crap out of me. The rest of the album is good though.
When I'm Sixty-Four - Like this, par example. What's lovely about this is that not only is it a ridiculous little love song, it's the sort of music a sixty-four year old would rather like. Says the nineteen year old. But you know what I mean - there's nothing overly demanding here, just simple music (is that an oboe or clarinet? I was always rubbish like that), with innocent lyrics. Aw.
Lovely Rita - I like the little cry from Paul at the beginning of this track. I don't know why, maybe because it seems like so much of the wails in all that music they release today. Only, you know, good.
Good Morning Good Morning - And, quite simply, it is. Well, not now. It's night now.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) - See track one.
A Day In The Life - Right. Finally. Utimately, this track is fantastic and generally the one picked out as favourite by any given Sgt Pepper fan. Why? It's sprawling, dark, and so, so exciting to listen to. I want to post this whilst Greenwich Meridian Time still says it's June 1st, so I'll end here and let you judge(ish) this song via a great cover by aband I happen to be seeing live tomorrow, Captain.
mp3: 'A Day In The Life' - Captain
Yes, yes, it is indeed true that Guilty Pleasures #1 took the form of 'Girlfriend' by Miss Avril Lavigne. But oh, do I have a treat for you. There isn't much to add to my last post here, apart from that this remix by Lil Mama is even better than the original. Pant-wettingly good, I swear. Take it, and run!
mp3: 'Girlfriend (Lil Mama Remix)' - Avril Lavigne
It has been far, far too long since Die Hard With A Vengeance. So long in fact that I can't even wait til the early July release of Live Free Or Die Hard before posting on just how excited I am. Whilst my sister twitches over every bit of McFly news on release, and my friends drool over gossip surrounding a Spice Girls reunion (despite the fact they never listen to their old stuff anymore), I sit here so filled to bursting with anticipation of John McClane's return that my leg hasn't stopped bouncing in a week.
The first Die Hard came out in 1988, about half a year after my birth. The second installment, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, came out in 1990. It took until 1995 for the third film, part re-invention of the series, Die Hard With A Vengeance, to arrive. I reckon my dad must have shown me the first film in the same year. I remember I was eight, and there were two bits of dodgy home-editing on my behalf - a brief flash of breasts near the beginning, and a bullet through the head twenty minutes or so later. I'm pretty sure that was it. Every swear word, including the whole 'Yippee-kay-ay...' bit left in for my eight year old eyes and ears. Sure, there were those two brief edits, and I got a stern-faced conversation from my father about appropiate words before we started, but ultimately I was watching an eighteen-rated film ten years early. And I got hooked quick.
mp3: Old Habits Die Hard - Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart
