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  1. Mash It

    Wednesday, June 22

    I have spent a good proportion of the last couple of days searching for clothes and scanning for new music as my iTunes is currently full of Top 40 guilty pleasures. Therefore I decided that I needed the input of intelligent music as well as intellectual clothes in order to fit into my new status as graduate. I'm planning to enjoy this summer in the usual regalia of denim shorts and an array of crop/sheer/non existent tops and floral dresses but I'm getting increasingly aware that my wardrobe needs to be updated to a working 21 year old's rather than a student's, even though I'm yet to find a job. So as usual, I'll make a start with some music that I have discovered on my adventures into the Internet followed by a quick run down of my material desires. 


    Anyone that knows me will probably know that I'm a YouTube obsessor. Not necessarily for music, just everything. I can spend hours on there watching everything from parts of American documentaries to music video parodies. In this respect I can sometimes get a little annoyed when someone finds something fantastic before me, it's just the competitive side of me. When my friend Robyn came to stay with me in Leeds a few weeks ago someone posted this on her Facebook wall: 


    This is called Lights by Norwegian Recycling. Norwegian Recycling is one guy called Frans Peter Bull Enger and in his own words is currently 'intrigued by the possibility to write lyrics and express articulated views and opinions by using the words and voices of other artists. I also emphasize the visual aspect by releasing videos to accompany my tracks'. Being a bit of a fan of Kanye West et al's Flashing Lights it was wonderful see that a guy had created a whole song, all about lights, taking a good proportion of focus off the ever egotistic Kanye. Watching it with my friend Robyn we were both outrageously pleased that there was a Blink 182 sample in there. Oh and some old school Modjo's Lady. You can't help but feel really bouncy with this song and how well it's blended together and I really think that it does 'write lyrics' using a range of artists. Mash ups are a really tricky genre to get right in my opinion. I have a massive collection on my iTunes but only a handful I enjoy listening too. I think the first one I ever heard was years ago on an MTV show (the name escapes me) but it was a mash up of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit with Destiny Child's Bootylicious. Sounds crazy? You're right. Listening back to it right now on YouTube I am pained. But then that might simply be that the quality isn't fantastic. It does surprisingly blend, just Beyonce's voice kinda grates on you in contrast to Cobain's.  Also it seems to be a weird juxtaposition of genres in the video - gyrating UV male bums and the mop dancing caretaker. Speaking of mash ups though, I found this beauty in the depths of Audio Porn: Aaliyah vs The XX. I am an absolutely huge fan of The XX and Intro is one of the best opening tracks to an album I think I've ever heard. Whenever I hear that it's been sampled I'm immediately trying to find it and this is no exception. I've heard a lot of crap but there are some good remixes and samples out there and I think this is up there with them. Another one that my friend Rush discovered is a mash up of The XX with Notorious B.I.G which has completely grown on me. I know nothing about B.I.G but I know that this sounds weirdly right - Wait What - Dead Wrong Intro:



    Audio Porn is fantastic for some crazy mash ups and another one I discovered recently is Echo and the Bunnymen vs. Florence and the Machine, Killing Days:


    But enough of this mash up business, onto a few more tracks that I've discovered and will massively rate starting with something a little on the same lines but more of a Cuban remix than anything else. I may be massively behind the times but whilst on the drive home from a party at the weekend, following the chilled notes of the Black Keys my friend Rush asked if I'd heard of a nonprofit Cuban influence upon Western music collaboration entitled Rhythms del Mundo. Clearly my face said it all. He immediately played this wonderful tune, a jazzed up, Cubanised version of Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved:



    We then went on to discuss what a bad rep Maroon 5 seemed to gain over the years. I never had any of their albums, only a handful of tracks but I always loved to hear This Love. They're a bit boring, bit mainstream, bit middle class, middle aged but I have a bit of an attraction to the lead singer. So yes, check out Rhythms del Mundo, their album(s)' profits benefit the organisation Artists Project Earth and every little helps when it comes to saving our planet.

    And onto something totally brand spanking new in the guise of Explosions in the Sky. So I know I said in my last post that I'm not really into instrumentals. This is one of the few exceptions. I think it's because everything these guys do is completely epic. It isn't just using a computer and pushing some sounds together which seems to be a large proportion of music production at the moment, but they actually appear to involve themselves entirely in their music and it seems to be a real labour of love for them. One of my personal favourites by them is Glittering Blackness on their first 2000 album How Strange, Innocence: 

    My absolute favourite part of this is around the 2:43 mark onwards. They call their music 'cathartic mini-symphonies' and I think that this is exactly the best way to describe it. To me they are a real set of musicians, 3 guitars and a drum kit. Onto the new stuff though, these guys, despite all the epicness of their music, have never produced an equally epic music video, or one at all at that. While on Wired this evening I saw that this has all changed and now there is an 8 month in the making music video with a minute per month to show for it under the title Last Known Surroundings. An almost completely perfect video to enhance the listening experience. So if you haven't ever heard of them, check them out immediately and if you have, go watch this and become an even greater fan than before. 

    Finally, onto a wee bit of fashion before I head off to bed (I need to a) stop writing before bed time and b) maybe start posts with fashion and end with music occasionally). As I think I mentioned in a previous post I was aiming to get round to creating a DIY cut out denim shirt. Today, I found that denim shirt and cut it to pieces. Stylishly anyway (I think). I feel that I want to keep cutting bits out of it but right now it's exactly how I pictured it and I'm happy with the end result so I'm thinking of finding another shirt tomorrow to cut up a bit more in different places. Keep in mind that I have almost zero experience of textiles other than a few cushion covers in year 9 so it was just basic snipping. As it's denim I'm not finishing it off, just leaving it to fray a bit and see how that goes as I don't think I'll be wearing the shirt that much. Here are a couple of pictures: 

    Ignore the gold belt. What a disasterous choice! 


    Overall I'm quite pleased with the end result. I really really want to take the top of the back out too but I think it would overboard on the cutting up front. I'm so looking forward to wearing it out/to my driving lesson...

    So anyway, I'm shattered and like I say, driving lesson in the morning and so to end with an iTunes shuffle special (note, I didn't put a music video to the last one because I do not in any way recommend listening to it.) For today's song iTunes has chosen: Vampire Weekend - M79 from the self titled album. Much better than last week and so I will end with giving the music "video" for it: 


    I've chosen a live one because the violins make it that much better. 

    Posted by prandicle at 23:13 | Labels: , , , , , | 1 comments | | |

  2. Festivalia

    Thursday, June 16

    I have been wonderfully appalling at making this a regular feature but I have been non stop for weeks and this is one of the earliest opportunities to write down some thoughts on festivals, music in general and a venture to find the perfect shoe. 

    Firstly, I am not going to re-hash my boyfriend's blog account of Parklife Festival which was held on the 11-12th of June just gone, but instead, I am going to post some shameless advertising to Alex's money making dog poo I have only been to Latitude and Wireless Festivals and a fair number of gigs in my life but this festival was , as my boyfriend eloquently states, 'money making dog poo'. All I can say was that it was a massively expensive disappointment. Essentially, I am currently listening to Nero's 'Innocence' on my £30 speakers and it sounds better on these than it did in a tent with man himself playing in front of me. You know it's not been a good festival when you come home and play Chase and Status on your laptop and you have a better time pissing off your neighbours with insane bass than you do singing 'Time' for the artist because the sound from the stage is such poor quality. One of the most entertaining parts of my weekend was the guy completely off his tits behind us singing SWEET sensation over and over again during Chase and Status' entire set. The number of times I just wanted to turn round and go home are uncountable. However, the company was awesome, the artists tried their hardest with what they had (often apologising) and the weather was wonderfully British (hail the size of broken glass, thunder, 18 degree heat and torrential rain all day Sunday) but the organisers were completely piss poor and I was left massively disappointed. I don't particularly feel that I can honestly tell someone that I saw the acts that I did as I couldn't hear them. I was so excited to see Nero and didn't even care that I couldn't breathe but when you can't hear the drop, just leave. I have no idea how many people outside of my group of friends felt the same way and I don't know if many people are complaining but I am going to make the recommendation that you should think twice before going next year. Warehouse Project, along with other organisers such as Festival Republic have ruined the festival atmosphere, sacrificing quality with quantity for increasingly expensive prices. 

    But now onto happier subjects starting with the Leeds Summerball. This was a wonderful evening (and unlike Parklife, I could hear the acts) and a fantastic way to end my undergraduate career. The main acts besides the Metropolis/Wax:On tent which was similar to the Parklife line up, were Ellie Goulding, Darwin Deez and Chipmunk. I am unashamedly an Ellie Goulding fan, I think her voice is beautifully haunting and unlike other uni acts that have been experienced at the cringeworthy Fruity evenings, she wasn't trying hard to be cool *cough* Skins cast *cough*. She just got up, sang beautifully and entertained the crowd. I do think she failed to remember that she was playing to a crowd of very drunk students who paid for a whole evening, not just to hear her. This meant that she played a whole album's worth of songs when the crowd only really wanted to hear 'Your Song' and 'Starry Eyed'. I did take a few drunken videos but subsequently deleted them off my camera in an equally drunken moment - here is a YouTube user's video montage though if you're interested:


    05.54 onwards for 'Your Song' is my favourite part as everyone really goes for it in their football crowd manner. I think me and my friends left at around 4 and all I had in my head on the coach back was Example's 'Watch the Sun Come Up' and was suddenly convinced that Example had been playing in the Metropolis/Wax:On tent and was devastated that I had missed him. What... I wish you could record your drunken internal monologues for future hilarity. Speaking of this song though, this remix was my summer 2010 tune: 


    Onto new music though. I am completely in love with a couple of tracks at the moment.
    First is this completely incredible intro of Is Tropical's 'The Greeks' followed by the beat electronica of the bridge. 


    The video is a special effects dream (and a censor's nightmare). Following on from this, those of you in the UK who enjoy the delights of iTunes' Pandora's Box of music that is Single of the Week, you might have downloaded Austra's 'Lose It'. To me she reminds me of a cross between Clare Maguire, The XX and maybe Lykke Li (which I only recently discovered was pronounced Licky Lee, who knew?). This is, in my opinion, an iTunes win. She has the haunting voice like that of Ellie Goulding and Clare Maguire with the simplistic melodies of the XX and the general style of Lykke Li which combines the two. If you're interested, here it is: 


    Which reminds me, I have yet to check out this week's free song... I just downloaded it and I will easily state that it is one of the worst tracks I have heard in 2011. It's called 'Emergency' and is by Wonderland. Avoid unless you are a fan of shit. A track I would recommend on the other hand that has just sprung to mind is called 'You' by Creep ft Nina Sky. It really reminds me of something else that I have heard and obsessed over recently but I can't quite place it. It's chilled out with what could be called a light dubstep effect to it. I think maybe it reminds me a female Jamie Woon? Maybe? 


    Last night I received a text from my dad (the man with the world's largest CD collection) with the following: 'So Kruder and Dorfmeister are cool? And if your reply is Who I will explode'. I didn't want my dad to explode so instead I didn't reply. I checked them out this morning and I will give them a 6/10. I think they're a bit boring for me. Wikipedia says that they are drum and bass, lounge and trip hop. They say they are drum and bass, dub and electronica. I will establish that they are lounge jazz dub with a bit of a D'n'B vibe. I'm not massively into ambient. Although I like 'depressing music' according to my boyfriend, I have a very soft spot for the XX, Jamie Woon and the Foals but I fail to really enjoy instrumental. Even if it is clever which this K&D lot are. Perhaps they will grow on me. 


    This was the one that I found that I liked the most. A couple of the tents I went to a Parklife sounded a bit like this. I don't find the genre especially exciting though. Boo. So thank you daddy, but no. While I'm on the music side of things, I thought I would bring this very enjoyable BBC Magazine archive to your attention. There are only a few entries as it isn't a regular feature but if you like to know the origins of songs then have a look. This is the latest one looking into Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'  but this page has the archive list on the side for more of them including 'Killing in the Name' and 'Ernie': 

    Finally, I just want to share 2 moments of joy. The first is my purchase of a pair of shoes I have been craving for a very long time. I'm not much of a shoe person and the majority of my shoes, including heels are black. Despite being 5'2", I rarely wear heels as I tend to prefer comfort for a night out rather than crippling pain. Not quite a fashionista's attitude, more of an old lady's really. Despite all this however, I have been channelling the 70s vibe recently. Although I am vertically challenged I am currently engaged in a love affair with maxi dresses and skirts at the moment. And to go with said dresses I was desperately seeking a pair of chunky heeled sandals. These did not seem to exist on the high street. The pair I was basing my choice on were these by Jeffrey Campbell [edit, photo has been deleted on the website therefore has gone from here too. Here is a leopard print pair to demonstrate the style...not the print]

    jeffrey-campbell-foxy-platforms.jpg

    I will admit that I very nearly put them in my basket to buy as I was so head over heels in love. But I actually wanted them in more of a tan colour and preferably not with a $129 price tag (even with the exchange rate that's still pretty massive). I looked on every high street website and in every store I could think of. ASOS came fairly close but then they didn't have my size, and I find ASOS shoes really uncomfortable. I expressed my need to my boyfriend while we were in York yesterday and found a promising pair in Office. But for £70. And then, a light in the distance shone over TK Maxx of all places. I headed to the shoe section and there I found a pair of shoes by Rocketdog. Rocketdog, personally, are not a particularly me brand. I had a pair of those Irish dancing kind of shoes by them in year 11 and another pair of horrific brown pumps when I was 15. They always seem to have a bit of a child like, adolescent feel to them. These, in a way, were no different with their bright orange and purple logo (really, orange and purple?) on top of the white floral patten that lined the insole. But besides this, to me I had found a budget version of the catwalk model. Although they are no Jeffrey Campbell's I think they are a satisfactory substitute. And in typical TK Maxx price promise they were £30 reduced from £70. And here they are:
    As you can see, no towering heels but the sole wedge makes me feel taller and stable. And the best part? I can walk in them with absolutely no trouble at all. An achievement for the heelphobe. As soon as I got in from York I stripped off and tried them on with everything from my black maxi dress to my Primark curtain dress, a staple from last summer. I very rarely find something that is exactly what I want for a small price and therefore I felt that this was worth blogging about. Unbelievably girly, but my happiness is astounding. The other 2 items that are currently on my shopping list are the solid/sheer skirts. I think I will end up making one this summer as they are disgustingly easy to make but I don't have access to a sewing machine until I am back in the hometown. I also have a Levi denim shirt that I am planning to cut up. I'm hoping to take out the shoulders and the back. I'm a real amateur at textiles so I'm hoping that my mum can give me some guidance. I bet she can't wait for me to be home, breaking the silence of home with the shouts of MUUUUUUM I'm stuck. The one other item I really want in my life is a pair of shorts that are neither vintage denim nor outrageously tight. I haven't quite figured this one out yet but all in good time. I'd also like someone to take me shopping and buy me some new tops. I really struggle with tops. I just don't 'get' them. I don't even understand myself...

    Oh, and the other news besides the shoe palava? I have finished my degree. As far as I can tell I have my 2:1. I got my exam results, had a hair cut/trim by my favourite ever hairdresser, got sushi came home and wrote this whilst easting a Whispa bar. 

    I also had an idea to end my blogs. It's terribly cliched but you might get some idea of how non-eclectic my iTunes really is depending upon it's temperament. I'm going to press next whilst on shuffle and tell you the song that is chosen. This way I will either come across as pretentious or a real guilty pleasure lover. I have a lot of crap and I hate to delete music so take all this with a pinch of salt =)

    So the shuffle song of the day is: Inna - 'Amazing' - I should have known my iTunes would screw me over. I have a feeling my boyfriend told me to download this because 'it was dirty as hell' and not dirty in the good way. 

    Posted by prandicle at 14:29 | Labels: , , , , | 1 comments | | |