The Best of 2009

Weep, weep, tear, snot, tear. It's the last ever Musical Friday of 2009! And what a year it's been... I guess. Socially, ecomnomically it's been pretty shit but goddam the music's been good. Let's exclude repulsives like Chipmunk, Pixie Lott and that burke Alexandra and have a look back at the artists who really tried out something new. I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to music this year. Telepathe, First Aid Kit, Sin Fang Bous and Golden Silvers have been stand outs for me. And let's not forget, my Devendra released his greatly antcipated album which let no-one down (I was lucky to cream over,I mean, listen to him at the Shephards Bush Empire on the 15th and my God can the man put on an amazing gig!)So enjoy the walk down memory lane. Did I leave anyone off? Or someone on that doesn't deserve it? To be honest, I don't care because it's my blog. Mine, mine, mine and it's the end of 2009. That ryhmes.


Animal Collective - My Girls



Telepathe - Chrome's On It



Dirty Projectors - Two Doves



Flashguns - I Do Not Love You



Peggy Sue and The Pirates - Alice In The Kitchen



Florence and the Machine (Jack Beats Remix) - Drumming Song



Davendra Banhart - Baby



Bombay Bicycle Club - Always Like This



Sin Fang Bous - Clangour and Flutes



Passion Pit - The Reeling



Camera Obscura - French Navy



Bat For Lashes - Sleep Alone



Girls - Laura



Wavves - So Bored



Golden Silvers - True Romance



Vampire Weekend - Cousins



First Aid Kit - Hard Believer



The Drums - Let's Go Surfing



Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks



Bell X1 - The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella



Timber Timbre - We'll Find Out



The xx - Crystalised



Hebuca - Suffering



Villagers - The Meaning of The Ritual



Pit er Pat - Evacuation Day



The Maccabees - Love You Better

Musical Friday

I am back from my New York travels. It feels like I have woken up from a very beautiful dream. Reports to come. Happy Friday, I'm off to an internship at Recognise magazine, check it out peoples.

Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Kid Cudi - Make Her Say ft. Kanye West, Common

Jefferson Airplane -White Rabbit

Sin Fang Bous: clangour and flutes

Mahjongg - Aluminum

Tacks, the Boy Disaster - "Frozen Feet"

People Press Play - These Days

Musical Friday

Girls - Laura



Cats In Paris - Foxes



Devendra Banhart - Baby



Grizzly Bear - Knife



Plastiscines - Bicyclette



Cass McCombs - The Executioner



Shit Robot - Simple Things (Work It Out)



Timber Timbre - Oh Messiah




Weird War - Mental Poisoning



Wolf Parade - Modern World



Joanna Newsom - Sprout And The Bean

Musical Saturday

I'm ever so sorry for the non-existant Musical Friday. I just get so caught up in living my wonderful life I simply don't have the time. OK, ok I forgot. So I thought we'd do it a little different. I'm always suffering De Ja Vu when it comes to mainstream music. The same hooks, melodies, backing tracks over and over again like a musical Groundhog Day really get my goat. Here's a few recent examples of blatant copying. Or at least milking the 'artistic liscence' idea for all it's worth.

The choruses are exactly the same...

Lily Allen - Who'd Have Known?



Take That - Shine



Again, pretty similar chorus. It sounds like the same backing track...

Pixie Lott - Boys and Girls



Rhianna - Shut Up and Drive



Apparently she's getting sueud for ripping off Kelis. They are very similar. You can sing Chezza's song over Kelis's and it's the perfect fit.

Chreyl Cole - Fight For this Love (Embedding disabled by bloody request.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvp32_5xXQA&feature=related

Kelis - L'il Star



These two songs have identical time frames, and sound exactly the same when it comes to the bridge. Go to 2.30 on Black Eyed Peas and around 2.06 on the Sugababes. You can say 'Let the Beat rroooccckk' in that wierd, retarded way over the song and wouldn't even notice it's the Sugababes. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Sugababes - Get Sexy



Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Musical Friday

The Dodos - Fools



Beach House - Master of None



Maths Class - Jonny Got The Jawline



Electrelane - To The East



A Hawk and a Hacksaw - I Am Not A Gambling Man



The Cave Singers - Dancing on Our Graves

Musical Friday

Due to the lack of Musical Friday and the lateness of the one today, I though it would be nice to add a few extra videos onto the list. I'm just nice like that. Hooray Friday!

The Drums - Surfing



Rainbow Arabia - Haunted Hall



Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake



Pit Er Pat - Solstice



The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea



First Aid Kit - Hard Believer



Devendra Banhart - Seahorse



Born Ruffians - I Need A Life



Priestbird - Season of the Sun

Christopher Wilson

Christopher Wilson is known for photographing Band of Horses, Cass Mccombs and others. His music photography is huge over the internet and his work for Band of Horses has made him a very popular documentary photographer indeed.


However, I prefer his other work. His personal work, where his aesthetic style emerges in its truest form. I love his images of stoic buildings and interiors. The lonely woman sitting in a kitsh American diner or the tremendous mountains sitting patiently behind a plastic deer. It's very haunting and so stylish. I would love to order a print but I'm too skint. Ah. A ryhme.

http://christopherwilsonphoto.com/index.html

Musical Friday

Telepathe - So Fine



Laura Marling - Night Terror




Whirlwind Heat - Purple



Hecuba - Suffering




Kings of Convenience - Boat Behind

Musical Friday

TGIF!

Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl to do



Lykke Li - Little Bit (CSS Remix)



Vetiver - Been So Long



No Bra - She was a Butcher



Sexy Kids - Sisters are Forever

Dizzee Rascal, old bean!

I positively adore Dizzee Rascal. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of his music. No, really, I'm not just saying that. I actually find his songs rather annoying. Bonkers? The lyrics are hardly inspired. But, I cannot get enough of his hilarious interview skills and attitude towards other celebrities.

Check out this video of him telling Kate Moss to 'go away' after she bombarded his interview with her massive team of sycophants, sorry, assistants at the GQ awards last week. Desperate for the attention to be on her, she cried 'has anyone seen my lipstick?' to which some revolting excuse for a human bieng replied 'Do you want me to look for it Kate?' Heellooooooooo?? It's Kate Moss! She was the face of Rimmel for about five years, I'm sure she's got enough lipstick lying around. And stop pandering to her laziness. She can find her own bloody lipstick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChdNqrDTJQc

And this... oh it's an oldie but such a goodie! Dizzee Rascal on News Night talking about Obama and other, erm, interesting things. Watch as he sways from side to side, cracking up at every comment he makes, interrupting the very serious political expert and telling Paxman, "'Course I'm British, man. You know me!" I'm sure he does 'Mr Rascal', very well indeed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM1XrVVVBAk

Musical Friday

Hooray, it's musical Friday! You know what that means? No? Never heard of Musical Friday before? Well, it's Friday so let's listen to some music... Hooray, Musical Friday!

The Golden Silvers - True Romance



First Aid Kit - In Our Own Pretty Ways



Flashguns - Bells at Midnight



Little Joy - Next Time Around



Stricken City - Ta O Tak

The Yellow Bird Project

Muscians and charity go together like pickle and cheese. They love to give, we like to receive. But don't let the likes of holier-than-thou Bono, Sting and Chris Martin put you off . The Yellow Bird Project is a non-profit organisation, based in Montreal, that gathers together musicians such as Bon Iver, Little Boots and Broken Social Scene to design T-Shirts and give the proceeds to their chosen charites. Not only does this raise awareness for the charity but it also gives the muscians a chance to flex their creative muscles, for the good of mankind, without selling their souls to companies with fruits for logos.

My new husband, Devendra Banhart, was the first musician to contribute a design. Ah, so kind, so loving, so generous. The proceeds from his T-Shirt are going to the 'Teenage Cancer Trust'. I also really like The Shins design, as well as Clap Yours Hands and Say Yeah's interesting effort.

Check out the website, you could find something you like...

http://www.yellowbirdproject.com/products/clap-your-hands-say-yeah

Documentary: I Think We're Alone Now

"I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around..."

The irony of this song is that, according to Sean Donnelly, Tiffany is never alone. 'I Think We're Alone Now' is a dark and innovative journey into the lives of obsessed (understatement of the year) Tiffany fans. The singer (famous in the '80's for having red hair and dancing in a lot of shopping centres) is the eye of a very bizarre storm as we are taken on a journey into the secret lives of obsession.

The fans (ok, stalkers... look, I'm trying to be sensitive here), originally seem comical. On face value, one might think Louis Theroux has gone Box Office. But soon, we are left feeling uneasy witnessing the lonliness, frustration and, worst of all, unrequited love these people feel. Rejected from society, they have one person to turn to and it just so happens to be Tiffany.

This distressing yet poignant documentary will be playing at The Raindance Film festival, in London, from September 30 - October 11. Check out the trailor. Chilling stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MxXqF-fgJY

Lauren Dukoff's 'Family'

I recently received Lauren Dukoff's 'Family' from my brother (oh, the irony) and have to say I was very, very happy. Lauren Dukoff is a wonderful photographer, who manages to capture her muses in a serene, gentle light. She has travelled all over the world with her musician friends and this book is a documentation of their time together. Each portrait is different. She can capture the performer, the thinker, the private couple. Her subjects look into her lens like they're in the middle of telling a secret. Sometimes they smile as if they're sharing an in joke. Each photo is endearing and glamourous. But not in a bragging way. Dukoff is no pompous photographer.

Of course, there is another reason I wanted this book and love it so much. His name Devendra Banhart...

What was that Devendra? Marriage? Moi? But, I'm only 21. Are you that desperate to have me? Oh, fine, have it your way...

Dukoff''s family members are so attractive and talented she makes me wish I was adopted. The book features Bat for Lashes, Hecuba, Espers, Cibelle, Vetiver, Little Joy, Megapuss (many bands feature the same members, rienforcing the fact that these people really are like family) and many more. Every single one of these musicians create wonderful music, bursting with originality and yummy creativity. The book's layout matches their mish-mash of musical styles perfectly.

If unfamiliar with the music scene Dukoff is involved with, this book is a good introduction to it. If, like me, you are in love with (nooo, not Devendra) most of the musicians featured, it's a must have. If none of the above, get it anyway. Dukoff is brilliant and I love this book.