I am usually bad-tempered, but I do usually have a reason. At the moment I am being maddened by charters. At some point I will blog all about it, but right now I want to point out some of the good things in the world.
1. In a surprise twist R'n'B is going all not rubbish. It's not a genre I've been keen on on the whole. Just because you can go ooo-ooo-oooo-ooo-yeah-aaaaah over two octaves doesn't mean you should. But now there is good R'n'B stuff out there, with energy. Rihanna's Umbrella was a classic song, though there were better ones on the album, like Don't Stop the Music, and popjustice points out Lady GaGa.
The video's nothing special, in fact I'd go so far as to call the inflatable killer whale ill-advised, so maybe you'd do better listening at her myspace page.
2. Back in the USSR with Eddie Hartington!
He could be the cover model for Lisa Simpson's Non-Threatening Boys magazine. If you can't be bothered with the whole video the last twenty seconds or so are quite good; start at about 5:00.
3. I like that ipod adverts now bring out new(ish) bands, rather than levi adverts, and I also like that without watching any TV at all I still somehow get these things. This song is good to put on loud if you are feeling annoyed, for example if you can't decide if a charter formula is a deliberate allusion to Ovid's Metamorphoses. I might buy the album even though I hate that "The drums, the drums, the drums" song that everyone was playing recently.
Monday, 2 June 2008
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Have you heard any Alphabeat? Their album 'This is Alphabeat' was released yesterday and is fab: as a pop aficionado I think you should seek them out.
ReplyDeleteAlso good are Foals (electo mathmo-pop) and Vampire Weekend (Ivy League meets Ivory Coast) but they might be to indie for you...
I like alphabeat, they make happy noises. Maybe I'll get the album. Not sure about Foals. I remember quite liking Vampire Weekend when I heard some once, but you're right, perhaps a tad too indy.
ReplyDeleteDo you know the DJ Kicks series? It's like All Back To Mine but less mellow. I got the Hot Chip one, which is good, and I've been listening to it to help me forge ahead with the charters of King Eadwig.
Foals are great; their music is really hypnotic, and harmonically quite inventive. Some tracks are a bit shouty, but I think they'd underscore your Charter work well. Good luck with that; I'd imagine there's much forging (not in the fabricating sense!) to be done with Eadwig.
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say I don't know the DJ Kicks series. I'm obviously not as street as I thought I was; I'll do some research. Sorry to hear you don't like The Wire, which I think is superb. Can you get BBC iPlayer? If so watch the latest Dr Who; it's set in a library (which is a planet. Or vice versa).
I'm off to Syria soon: do you have any Middle Eastern travel advice?
You're streeter than me; also more so than most of your co-workers, I'd guess... But we are both of us surprisingly street for people who also know about Anglo-Saxon charters. Hurray!
ReplyDeleteMy top Middle Eastern travel tip, from my very limited experience, would be to take Yazeed. He knows where to get the best gin fizzes. Failing that, just don't worry about people being friendly and also trying to sell you things. I don't think it makes the friendliness less genuine, like it would in England, it's just a different attitude. But if it's anything like Jerusalem you will spend money. I met an Iraqi taxi driver the other day, who told me that Syria was the best place to visit. I envy you. Are you going with RCW? Give her my regards.
I can't get iPlayer, which is annoying. I am the only person in the whole world who doesn't like the Wire. I suppose I'm missing something, but I couldn't cope with the cop cliches. I gave up for good part way through the second series; a kid gets shot and his mother screams Noooooooo! while the camera jumps back and back onto the streets outside with her shouting echoing over it. It just made me giggle. But it's really not my genre.
Plus, off of today's popjustice, Cloetta Paris .
Yay! I heard a song on left of center today and it kept saying the drums, the drums, the drums...and I loved her voice. I came home and googled it and found your blog, score! Now I'm off to hunt down the album. Thanks!
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