Catch-Up Day: 14th – Take Me There [acoustic session for Beatnik]

Is it just me, or does he love her a little bit? Look at his face when he looks at her. Or am I being a douche, and they are actually a couple? That ‘everyday is the 14th’ lovey stuff has confused me now. 

I digress. This acoustic version of ‘Take Me There’, recorded for the Beatnik Sessions, is absolutely stunning. I’m dreaming of a big diva house rave with classic Adeva, Crystal Waters and Ultra Naté tunes and a live PA from 14th in the middle were Tracey drops the acoustic version of this and everyone starts hugging everybody else.

That’s all from our first catch-up day. Until next time, goodnight!

Catch-Up Day: 14th – Lights Off

This is the part where we all take a break and go spend some of our hard-earned mullah on the Hide Yourself EP. It’s £2.49 – I spent more than that on a carton of Innocent Smoothie juice this morning and it’s not going to sing to me anytime soon! No wonder the music industry is falling to pieces – they need to expand into the healthy fruit juice market.

Listen to ‘Lights Off’ below and weep some more…

Catch-Up Day: 14th – Take Me There

This what this girl’s dreams are made of! Diva vocals on a nineties beat that pays serious homage to UK garage and Nightcrawlers’ ‘Push The Feelin On’? This song was practically written for me.

Listen to ‘Take Me There’ below and weep.

Catch-Up Day: 14th – Hide Yourself

This is an official catch-up day. I only found out about London duo 14th a couple weeks ago, and there’s just so much good stuff to share that I’ve decided to do it all in one day.

First off, is the super eerie video to ‘Hide Yourself’, an absolute banger [yeah, I said it] of a tune. Singer Tracey Duodo plays an East London Alice In Wonderland where the white rabbit does the Carlton dance outside a laundromat and there’s a little girl who eats cake the way a real lady should. Tracey’s sparring partner Tom Barber, takes a back seat in all this madness, preferring to get a few good ‘look at me running’ shots in.

Free Download: Sarah White – Limitless

They were giving this Sarah White tune away on Afro-Punk a couple weeks ago. So in the spirit of Chinese Whispers I am passing on the word – keep your fingers crossed that by the end of the chain ‘Limitless’ is still as it started and hasn’t turned into something that vaguely resembles relaxing whale song.*

*Here is an informative video about Chinese Whispers.

Gratuitous Patti Smith #3

I don’t care if my body sags

or my breasts hang to my belly button

or my face gets eaten by wrinkles

just as long as I can

pull a tailored coat over it

and a pair of boots

and look as cool as Patti Smith

walking in the park.

New Video: Kate Bush – Elder Falls At Lake Tahoe

Happy Kate Bush’s New Video Day!

I’m beginning to think that Kate Bush doesn’t exist anymore. She hardly gives interviews, she doesn’t appear in her own videos, she doesn’t go on tour, perform live or make public appearances. From this well investigated evidence, I conclude that Kate Bush is a collective figment of our imaginations.

P.S. I really like shadow puppetry. If Kate Bush wants to put on an arena tour shadow puppet show, I’m in.

Dancing Lessons: Claude Francois & The Claudettes

When I grow up I would like to be a Claudette and shake my stuff in a musical notation leotard. I’d have all the funkiest dance moves and I’d definitely be next to the ever-so-nimble Claude Francois in the line-up [not in the back where no one would be able to see my fancy footwork]. Don’t laugh, this is a serious plan.

In fact, I’m  gonna move to Paris, find a little studio flat just below the Sacre Coeur, and start a tribute band. Who wants to be the main man, Mr Francois himself? [Apply in the comments section below - only serious offers will be taken seriously]. We’re going to start by learning the breakdown from ‘Magnolias Forever‘ that hits in at 1:25 on the second video. That is dancing!

New Track: Sinkane Ra – Jeeper Creeper

Just because I run a music blog doesn’t mean I am all that knowledgeable about anything. I just spend a lot of time on the internet watching music videos and listening to stuff on SoundCloud – then I pop over here and I post it

A. because sharing is caring and

B. so that I don’t forget about it.

Normally I might tell you that I have no idea who Sinkane Ra is and you should stop being so nosy and just enjoy the song. But because I am a pruhfeshunal, I did a bit of investigative journalism and I have discovered a few fun facts for you:

Real Name: Ahmed Gallab

Occupation: Drummer for Yeasayer

Album Info: Entitled Mars and due out later this year

Blog: Has a Googoosh song in his ‘Cool Videos’ section.

That’s it. Now enjoy the song and stop being so nosy. [By the way, this song makes me feel like this.]

New Video: Lianne La Havas – Forget

The video to Lianne La Havas’s ‘Forget’ came out a couple of days ago and as I already confessed in a previous post: I love this song. Needless to say, I got so damn excited, I just posted the video straight to the PUB.lication Facebook page and called it a day.

But now that I’ve had a moment to reflect I would like to make a little list that I’ve entitled.

THINGS WHAT MAKE THIS VIDEO SO GOOD

1. The song is the perfect angry love song, and this is the perfect angry love song video i.e. Lianne looks super hot and who ever she’s singing about is definitely crying into their Cup-A-Soup because she dumped their ass.

2. That pink sequin jumper.

3. At about 1.44, the Lianne on the left hand side pulls off a killer dance move.

4. It’s a special feat that can make a pretty girl in funky outfits appear slightly sinister. See item number 1 about this video being the perfect visuals for an angry love song.

5. This has nothing to do with the video but I love the line: “Don’t try to serenade me, I am a one-man band”. EAT YOUR HEART OUT, Cup-A-Soup boy!

New Video: Amalia – Freeze That!

Ooh la la, this bit of Swedish pop magic just made me sit up and pay attention. Collaborators in crime, Amalia and Opolopo cast their jazz all over this ‘Freeze That!’ track and it’s spookily good.  I don’t think I’ve heard production like this since Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis had their greasy mitts all over Janet Jackson’s career in the 80s.

Amalia is also leading the way for the revival of brown lipliner. That’s extra brownie points, right there.

Simply Red Sunday: Holding Back The Years

In my epic list of New Year resolutions, I declared that I would make Simply Red cool again in 2012. I’m tired of everyone making fun of him for being ‘ugly and ginger’. Because actually red hair is really beautiful and although he may not be the most handsome man in the world, he’s not burning through my retinas or anything.

I’m totally down with the way he looks in the ‘Holding Back The Years’ video – the haircut is dope as is the knee-length overcoat. Also, let us not forget that ‘Holding Back The Years’ is an absolute tune and if you don’t think so then I want a 150 word explanation in the comments section.

New Video: Light Asylum – Skull Fuct

First point: The In Tension EP was one of my last purchases of 2011 and it was totally worth it, Shannon Funchess is awesome.

Second point: It was almost impossible to find screen shots from this new video for ‘Skull Fuct’ that weren’t just 5% away from being nothing but a black rectangle. Light Asylum are going for what I might call the ‘negative light’ look. But can someone illuminate me as to what their thing is with horses? First sampling a horse and now horses in the video…

Pop Fashion: Chelsea Wolfe – Movie Screen

 ”I think it’s an affinity for toughness, warriors, nordic folk and white trash… and something elegant mixed in. Kind of black metal in a less blatant way…”

Watching this recent video performance for Room 205, I’ve decided that Chelsea Wolfe has a crazy aesthetic. I stole the quote at the beginning and all of the above images from an interview Chelsea did with Dossier to prove my point.

Awkard teenage goths are awfully fashionable at the moment. As is throwing together a string of words when asked about your personal style – see suggested conversation below:

“So what inspires you at the moment?”

“Oh, it’s a fashion amalgamation of 1920s military, air hostesses, bad dreams,  cubic zirconium and a cardboard box”

“Oh how fabulous!”

Listen: Lianne La Havas – Forget [Two Inch Punch New Jack Thing Rework]

I wanted to share this Two Inch Punch remix with you because it gives me an excuse to go on about how much I love the Lianne La Havas track ‘Forget’. Don’t tell anyone, but I regularly ‘get in the zone’ to this song whenever I have the flat to myself. Nothing beats singing along loudly to an angry love song – I don’t think we should have to wait to get our hearts broken to enjoy one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Listen to Ben Ash aka producer Two Inch Punch’s rework below:

Join the sing-a-long and download Lianne’s free EP Live in L.A. now.