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!
Metronomy recently released an EP entitled Not Made For Love. The release marks a change up in the band with guitarist leaving to form his own band called Your Twenties. The good thing about this move is that instead of simply replacing him, the band have gone and recruited TWO new members and in the process have created a new, more ‘live’ show. Apparently, at live shows from now on everything you hear will be from the band members playing their instruments i.e. no backing tracks. Hopefully this enables a more exciting live experience, although from what I can remember from seeing them in January it’d be pretty hard to top. Parklife will be interesting. By the way does anyone have a Brisbane Parklife ticket they could sell me? I previously was going to be away but my circumstances have changed. If you can help me out, email aderogatoryterm@gmail.com I’d really, really appreciate it.
Oh yeah, the EP. Right. The title track is on the poppier side of Metronomy’s repertoire and is definitely the best song on the EP. It’ll get stuck in your head after the 2nd or 3rd listen and I think the lyrics hit the nail on the head of the feelings of unrequited love. Another song on the EP worth getting is Do The Right Thing, which is a simple, catchy little ditty. The only other original on the release is What Do I Do Now? and is in my opinion not that great a track – it doesn’t really go anywhere and the vocoders don’t really do it for me in this case. It also includes a whopping 6 remixes with the Astronomer and Leo Zero mixes being the picks of the bunch. The Astronomer remix sounds really cool at about 3:10 check it out.
Kid Cudi – the man who brought you the infamous Day N Nite – has had his concept album leaked online last week. It’s a bit of a strange one, check out the tracklist:
ACT 1: THE END OF THE DAY
1. In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)
2. Soundtrack 2 My Life
3. Simple As…
ACT 2: RISE OF THE NIGHT TERRORS
4. Mr. Solo Dolo (Nightmare)
5. Heart of a Lion (KiD CuDi Theme Music)
6. My World ft. Billy Cravens
ACT 3: TAKING A TRIP
7. Day N Nite (Nightmare)
8. Sky Might Fall
9. Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part 1)
ACT 4: STUCK
10. Alive (Nightmare) ft. RATATAT
11. CuDi Zone
12. Make Her Say ft. Kanye West & Common
13. Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare) ft. MGMT & RATATAT
ACT 5: A NEW BEGINNING
14. Hyyerrr ft. Chip Tha Ripper
15. Up, Up & Away (The Wake & Bake Song)
At the beginning of each act a short narration is spoken by Common to tell the story of Kid Cudi’s life. I think it’s an interesting idea and I hope it adds credence to the value of the album as a whole so that kids don’t just buy the songs with MGMT and Kanye in them. You could probably guess the tracks I would like the best and you’d be right – Ratatat are at their best. If you like the Ratatat Remixes Mixtapes (which you can get for free on their myspace) you’ll love these songs. I predict Pursuit of Happiness will be everywhere in a couple weeks mainly because of the ACRONYM, even though Ratatat deserve most of the credit. The other track’s first two lines made me laugh the first time I heard them; the rest of the track’s lyrics are pretty sharp too. All in all, I think it’s a really well made first album and, though I love Jay-Z, I think the rookie has outclassed the master here.
To finish up, I’ll quickly mention a band I’ve been absolutely loving lately: The xx. I know they’ve been blogged to death lately, but the hype is well deserved. If you haven’t given them a chance I strongly suggest you do. They’re from London and they make minimal electronic pop with interchanging boy-girl vocals. Sounds pretty run-of-the-mill? Well where they differentiate is their production value. They do all their production themselves, but by no means does it sound like it was made in their bedroom. You’d like it if you like Whitest Boy Alive. Cyrstalised is the single so you’d probably be best off starting there, but the album is alllll good. I think the drum machine pattern at about 1:55 in Basic Space is really cool and the cracking sound effect throughout Infinity is genius. Finally, make sure you listen to it loud as their sound may feel shallow on tinny laptop speakers.
