To celebrate my late spring clean on the old blog, I'm introducing French duo Jamaica and their cutesy choon, "I think I like u 2".
The lads used to go by the name Poney Poney but, like this blog, have cleaned up their acts a bit and hence the exotic rename. New name + working with Xavier offof Justice ( I MISS those guys) = amazing summery pop not a million miles away from a Phoenix soundalike.I sense great things to come from these guys.
They're also playing at Pukkelpop, a Belgian festival which I've decided looks the one for me this summer. The line up looks stronger than a slab of Stilton and includes my new must-sees Jonsi, Mumford and Sons, The XX, Deadmau5, Jakwob and The Drums. I'd probs go and see Uffie for the bant, before re-visiting GENIUSES Miike Snow whose new single is IMMENSE (even if "the rabbit" is a crapulous name for a single - although my new wish is for a giant bunny, fyi).
Sorry to resort to bunging up music videos but
a) I've been work-experiencing with this wondrous magazine and have been typing like a '60s secretary all week. I literally couldn't have asked for a better week in a magazine: they've kept me busy with all kinds of fascinating articles on local areas, I'm getting a byline AND freelance pay and the editor gave me a personal critique of my writing. I feel like I've massively improved in the space of the last few days and its really got me feeling that I'm heading down the right path.
b) The music is really good, OK?
ALL CHANGE: I've also linked in the June spotify list. Have a look, you can tell there were some serious end-of-term high jinks which have gone into the making of it (S Club whaaat?)
© Miranda Thompson 2010.
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog
Showing posts with label Miike Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miike Snow. Show all posts
Friday, 11 June 2010
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Take Me to a Festival
Bright blue skies and kisses of sunshine makes me think of my favourite time of the year: it's just about time for festival season. Cue much wooping.
Thanks to currently straddling that awful time in life where uni ends and reality kicks in, its been hard to make any coherent plans for welly boot wearing, pear cider sloshing and staggering around an increasingly mucky field in remote rural English corners, and it's slightly worrying me. I'm a firm believer that, just as food always tastes better in the fresh air (bbqs. case closed), nothing can top the reverb echoing across the fields from some distant main stage. With Glastonbury tickets sold out and that week dedicated to my summer job anyway, its time to set out on a new plan; festival must haves this year include Phoenix, the xx and Vampire Weekend. I'll keep you posted as to how things pan out...
Things have already kicked off on the other side of the pond at Coachella, smack bang in the middle of a Californian desert with a line up to jizz over: staples like Muse and MGMT mix with personal faves Matt and Kim, Miike Snow and Passion Pit or newly discovered treasures like The Glitch Mob or Major Lazer, followed by Deadmau5, Aeroplane and Tiesto to take you through the night. Am postively trembling with jealousy. Can't quite imagine what festival-ling in a desert might be, (hot, sweaty and with interesting portaloo facilities most likely)but the opportunity to catch ANY of the lineup instead of being trapped with looming deadlines would be one to savour.
In honour of great music being played in fields, parks, and other wide open spaces this summer, I was going to try and do a retrospective of timeless festival moments.... but am instead going to showcase some of my favourite live moments which played out at Glastonbury 2009, year of the 9 hour bus journey/rural pub crawl from Brizzle and boiling hot sunshine. Words can't really describe the immenseness but perhaps some of this videos can help convey a sense of the buzzing atmosphere.
N*E*R*D: Rockstar
Absolutely cracking this was: NERD came onstage to a barrage of boos for keeping the crowd and left to a chorus of both screams and anger as their over-running made the Glasto organisers shut them down. In true anarchist style Pharrel helped tens of keen fans onstage to help keep the show running. Bloody good. Really enjoying the white middle-class hand pumps going on across the crowd here.
Saturday Night: THE BOSS!
Two and a half hours of sheer MAGIC. Having battled to get into the inner sanctuary of the first barriers all that was left to do was remove the wellies and get gently battered with new forty year old mates to the sounds of the fittest fifty something about. HELLO. Typically, all time fave Dancing in the Dark was saved for the end. We all loved it.
The last night proved to be a tussle between the Blur love in on the main stage or getting a bit grimey with my sound of summer 2009: THE PRODIGY! So much energy, so many shouts of "Where my WARRIORS" meant there was no better end to a weekend than hollering COME WITH ME TO THE DANCEFLOOR in everyone's faces.
Finally, although this didn't take place at Glastonbury, it's a fine example of the musical magic that can be conjured in Festival-land. Lykke Li meets Miike Snow and get it on to Kings of Leon. Unbelivable.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.
Thanks to currently straddling that awful time in life where uni ends and reality kicks in, its been hard to make any coherent plans for welly boot wearing, pear cider sloshing and staggering around an increasingly mucky field in remote rural English corners, and it's slightly worrying me. I'm a firm believer that, just as food always tastes better in the fresh air (bbqs. case closed), nothing can top the reverb echoing across the fields from some distant main stage. With Glastonbury tickets sold out and that week dedicated to my summer job anyway, its time to set out on a new plan; festival must haves this year include Phoenix, the xx and Vampire Weekend. I'll keep you posted as to how things pan out...
Things have already kicked off on the other side of the pond at Coachella, smack bang in the middle of a Californian desert with a line up to jizz over: staples like Muse and MGMT mix with personal faves Matt and Kim, Miike Snow and Passion Pit or newly discovered treasures like The Glitch Mob or Major Lazer, followed by Deadmau5, Aeroplane and Tiesto to take you through the night. Am postively trembling with jealousy. Can't quite imagine what festival-ling in a desert might be, (hot, sweaty and with interesting portaloo facilities most likely)but the opportunity to catch ANY of the lineup instead of being trapped with looming deadlines would be one to savour.
In honour of great music being played in fields, parks, and other wide open spaces this summer, I was going to try and do a retrospective of timeless festival moments.... but am instead going to showcase some of my favourite live moments which played out at Glastonbury 2009, year of the 9 hour bus journey/rural pub crawl from Brizzle and boiling hot sunshine. Words can't really describe the immenseness but perhaps some of this videos can help convey a sense of the buzzing atmosphere.
N*E*R*D: Rockstar
Absolutely cracking this was: NERD came onstage to a barrage of boos for keeping the crowd and left to a chorus of both screams and anger as their over-running made the Glasto organisers shut them down. In true anarchist style Pharrel helped tens of keen fans onstage to help keep the show running. Bloody good. Really enjoying the white middle-class hand pumps going on across the crowd here.
Saturday Night: THE BOSS!
Two and a half hours of sheer MAGIC. Having battled to get into the inner sanctuary of the first barriers all that was left to do was remove the wellies and get gently battered with new forty year old mates to the sounds of the fittest fifty something about. HELLO. Typically, all time fave Dancing in the Dark was saved for the end. We all loved it.
The last night proved to be a tussle between the Blur love in on the main stage or getting a bit grimey with my sound of summer 2009: THE PRODIGY! So much energy, so many shouts of "Where my WARRIORS" meant there was no better end to a weekend than hollering COME WITH ME TO THE DANCEFLOOR in everyone's faces.
Finally, although this didn't take place at Glastonbury, it's a fine example of the musical magic that can be conjured in Festival-land. Lykke Li meets Miike Snow and get it on to Kings of Leon. Unbelivable.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Swede-licious
Just to sum up, Miike Snow was probably one of the best musical experiences of my life. Not to sound too gushing or anything. The gig was held at the Bristol Thekla, a grimy old boat down on the Bristol quay and the perfect setting for an intimate concert which didn’t feel too crowded or stuffy. What’s better, we soon realised that most of the people there were far too edgy to act bothered about being at the front. All the better for me and my shameful groupie ambitions then.
Following on from a fantastic synth laden support (no jokes. There were about 5 massive keyboards on stage) complete with lead singer who spent the last song wrapping his orange pashmina around his head, Miike Snow didn’t so much erupt on stage so much as ooze on in a crescendo of music and masks. For the first three songs as the music seeped on I felt like an extra from a Scream film as all band members moved menacingly about the stage, their razor sharp cheekbones and intense eyes shrouded behind blank white masks redolent of serial killers.
However, as the final plinks of “Black and Blue” faded away the masks were flung aside and the night belonged to the euphoric sounds erupting from the crowded stage, a magical mix of the instrumental with some serious onstage mixing treatment. Each track was begun in its usual fashion and then spun into a fantastic psychedelic further interpretation; the ethereal “Silvia” swirled into ecstacy whilst “Animal” radiated into endless guitar solos and a cacophony of sound.
Lead singer American Andrew Wyatt (formerly of The A.M) kept the audience transfixed as he quite literally jumped back and forth from reticent piano playing to lunging into the crowd clutching his guitar, much to my friend’s delight, who had just decided A) he looked like Jesus and B) she’d always had a thing for Christ.
Basically, it was dead good.
I was even more ecstatic to find this on my regular trawl of hypemachine; the UK “Animal” Bonus track. It’s a standardly amazing Snow tune; slightly dark and mournful yet still deliciously poppy. Savour it.
What with Miike Snow, Lykke Li and Peter Bjorn and John I’ve really been feeling the Swedish pop (although ABBA not so much) over the last year, and yet another one popped up on my radar during my visit to Briz; sweet Swede singer Erik Hassle
“Hurtful”, along with its angst laden pretty colour scheme and enviably lush velvet leggings, just screams James Morrison mating with Air Traffic. If I were a man I’d definitely want to be called Erik Hassle; looks-wise I’d probably want to look more like Matthew Goode or Cory Monteith than Napoleon Dynamite, bless his heart. Thanks Woz for that.
Here are two of my other favourite SWEDELICIOUS sounds:
Peter Bjorn and John “Nothing To Worry About”. Their album “Living Thing” is fanbloodytastic and this is a little cracker; galumphing drums and wailing children = winning combination
Lykke Li “Possibility” offof the “New Moon” soundtrack.
Still not seen the latest in the Twilight shenanigans, still not decided if I am Team Jacob or Team Edward. However, I do know this is immense.
One final thing. I just tried listening to the new Lil’Wayne album “Rebirth” on Spotify. Thoughts? I think I need to start drinking again. He’s gone all rock and left the rolling rap behind. Gutted.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog
Following on from a fantastic synth laden support (no jokes. There were about 5 massive keyboards on stage) complete with lead singer who spent the last song wrapping his orange pashmina around his head, Miike Snow didn’t so much erupt on stage so much as ooze on in a crescendo of music and masks. For the first three songs as the music seeped on I felt like an extra from a Scream film as all band members moved menacingly about the stage, their razor sharp cheekbones and intense eyes shrouded behind blank white masks redolent of serial killers.
However, as the final plinks of “Black and Blue” faded away the masks were flung aside and the night belonged to the euphoric sounds erupting from the crowded stage, a magical mix of the instrumental with some serious onstage mixing treatment. Each track was begun in its usual fashion and then spun into a fantastic psychedelic further interpretation; the ethereal “Silvia” swirled into ecstacy whilst “Animal” radiated into endless guitar solos and a cacophony of sound.
Lead singer American Andrew Wyatt (formerly of The A.M) kept the audience transfixed as he quite literally jumped back and forth from reticent piano playing to lunging into the crowd clutching his guitar, much to my friend’s delight, who had just decided A) he looked like Jesus and B) she’d always had a thing for Christ.
Basically, it was dead good.
I was even more ecstatic to find this on my regular trawl of hypemachine; the UK “Animal” Bonus track. It’s a standardly amazing Snow tune; slightly dark and mournful yet still deliciously poppy. Savour it.
What with Miike Snow, Lykke Li and Peter Bjorn and John I’ve really been feeling the Swedish pop (although ABBA not so much) over the last year, and yet another one popped up on my radar during my visit to Briz; sweet Swede singer Erik Hassle
“Hurtful”, along with its angst laden pretty colour scheme and enviably lush velvet leggings, just screams James Morrison mating with Air Traffic. If I were a man I’d definitely want to be called Erik Hassle; looks-wise I’d probably want to look more like Matthew Goode or Cory Monteith than Napoleon Dynamite, bless his heart. Thanks Woz for that.
Here are two of my other favourite SWEDELICIOUS sounds:
Peter Bjorn and John “Nothing To Worry About”. Their album “Living Thing” is fanbloodytastic and this is a little cracker; galumphing drums and wailing children = winning combination
Lykke Li “Possibility” offof the “New Moon” soundtrack.
Still not seen the latest in the Twilight shenanigans, still not decided if I am Team Jacob or Team Edward. However, I do know this is immense.
One final thing. I just tried listening to the new Lil’Wayne album “Rebirth” on Spotify. Thoughts? I think I need to start drinking again. He’s gone all rock and left the rolling rap behind. Gutted.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Snow Good
I'm going to see the wondrous Miike Snow at the Bristol Thekla this weekend and to celebrate, I’m dedicating this post to the sheer amazingness of the Swedish collective's electropop output. Not only are the group magicians of music themselves, their songs have been subject to some serious remixing by such legends as Caspa, Mark Ronson and Crookers, and I’ve picked the cream of the crop to share right here with you.
Eschewing the more well known faces who’ve remixed the eponymous “Animal” like Crookers and the Ronson, I’ve gone for fellow Swedes Peter Bjorn and John on this one. As well as being amongst my 2009 favourites with a midday Glastonbury slot to remember, I’m always a fan of the smashingly good drums that their songs mould themselves around, showcased in the lolloping “Nothing to Worry About”. They’ve banged the nail on the head here with a fantastic, spaced out, happy-clappy remastering.
Next up, “Black and Blue”. I faced a bit of a Sophie’s Choice on this one, with the fast-paced intensity of the Netsky remix being edged out by this Caspa dubstep treatment. Once again, it came down to the percussion, and I think the slightly sloppy, casual Caspa version just oozed that bit more sophistication than Netsky’s hyperactive attempt.
The big beat rules supreme. Emalkay’s reworking of the haunting “Silvia” is sublime. It radiates sunsets and twilight with ebbing vocals and undulating synths. If you fancy something a bit more static and in-your-face, give the Robotberget mix a go.
Sunday cannot come quickly enough.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.
Eschewing the more well known faces who’ve remixed the eponymous “Animal” like Crookers and the Ronson, I’ve gone for fellow Swedes Peter Bjorn and John on this one. As well as being amongst my 2009 favourites with a midday Glastonbury slot to remember, I’m always a fan of the smashingly good drums that their songs mould themselves around, showcased in the lolloping “Nothing to Worry About”. They’ve banged the nail on the head here with a fantastic, spaced out, happy-clappy remastering.
Next up, “Black and Blue”. I faced a bit of a Sophie’s Choice on this one, with the fast-paced intensity of the Netsky remix being edged out by this Caspa dubstep treatment. Once again, it came down to the percussion, and I think the slightly sloppy, casual Caspa version just oozed that bit more sophistication than Netsky’s hyperactive attempt.
The big beat rules supreme. Emalkay’s reworking of the haunting “Silvia” is sublime. It radiates sunsets and twilight with ebbing vocals and undulating synths. If you fancy something a bit more static and in-your-face, give the Robotberget mix a go.
Sunday cannot come quickly enough.
© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.
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