If you live in Australia and read this blog you will know that Parklife is very near. I thought about doing a post on the artists I want to/think you should see at the festival. But then I thought that would be a tad predictable; plus there’s plenty of music and info available about the artists playing. So instead I’ve decided to create a playlist for your after-Parklife activities.
The mood I’m trying to capture with this music is that feeling after a big day at a festival where you’re still wide awake, but you no longer crave face-melting music. I think the tracks I’ve chosen will are light and poppy enough to keep you from downing, while also not too intense so you won’t wig out. The only rule I’ve followed for the track list is that Jimps or I cannot have posted the track here in the past. It’s not a collection of new songs, in fact, most of them are quite old; initially I tried to keep it as obscure as possible, but after much deliberation I came to the conclusion that in the state you’re in after Parklife you’ll want some comfort and familiarity. So download the songs you don’t have and chuck them all on a CD in the order I’ve placed them in and you should be right. Have fun at Parklife and hope to see you there!
Nothing that’s brand spanking new has really grabbed me and shook me like a polaroid picture lately, so rather than deprive you of my ranting and raving I thought I would share some fairly recent music I’ve been revisiting lately. Hopefully all you music-savvy people aren’t already up on all this.
I know you might be sick of me talking about Radiohead, but I think this track is so fucking good I just had to share it with you. It’s a cover of the opener from Amnesiac by a guy named James Yuill. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here – I think his cover is actually better than the original. This might be an apocalyptic statement for the Radiohead lovers out there, but I dare them to give it a try and see what they think. Also been loving the shit out of Talk Show Host from the Romeo + Juliet Soundtrack.
DFA signees Yacht are releasing a new album this month entitled See Mystery Lights. First single, Psychic City, describes a place where your friends throw you parties and washing machines speak. Despite the weird subject matter, it’s catchier than swine flu and will have you singing it back all day. The other song I’ve got for you is a love letter to LCD Soundsystem that they made after touring with James Murphy and co last year. James loved Summer Song so much that after hearingit he signed them to DFA.
Now I’m a bit late on this one, but this is a band formed by The Strokes’ drummer Fabrizio Moretti and the singer/guitarist of Brazilian band Los Hermanos. You could think of them as a more acoustic, slightly tropical version of The Strokes. You could be forgiven for thinking Keep Me In Mind is actually a Strokes track, as it’s scary how much the singer sounds like Julian Casablancas. This music is perfectly suited to sitting on the beach in the shade of a palm tree sipping on drinks housed in coconuts with little colourful umbrellas sticking out of them. So if that tickles your fancy you should definitely pick up their self-titled album.
The Bird and the Bee came out of nowhere for me, I stumbled across their video for Polite Dance Song purely on the tip that it was a funny clip of old people dancing. While it was mildly funny, the thing that stayed with me the most was the actual music. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, singer Inara George pokes fun at every dance song ever made by politely asking you to clap your hands and apologising for losing her cool. I’ve also posted another cover that I think is better than the original – I think the sexy female voice appeals to me more in this context for obvious reasons. And apparently it’s featured in the Sex and the City movie, but I haven’t seen it so I wouldn’t know.
The other member of the group Greg Kurstin has worked with Lily Allen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck and The Flaming Lips and the band opened for Lily Allen’s 2007 tour; so if you like that sort of music you will love this.
I got Temper Trap’s debut and a couple of other albums recently so hopefully they’ll inspire me to post again soon. Until then, keep supporting your favourite artists.
