Let's Get It Over With

I'm just going to say it and then that will be it. World Cup starts soon. We will probably, definitely not win it - an opinion not borne simply of natural English pessimism but also because we're down Ferdinand and Beckham, and even I'm reasonably football literate enough to realise that's not so good.

Last night I spent the entire evening glued to ITV watching the footie. This wasn't just any football match, hooo nooo, this was the glorious Soccer Aid, set up by the increasingly crazy Robbie Williams in aid of Unicef.
The premise sees England take on the Rest of the World on the pitch with teams composed of football legends like Zidane and Alan Shearer alongside celebs like Mike Myers, Gordon Ramsay...and Jonathan Wilkes.

As well as 90 minutes of ball-kicking, you're completely guaranteed comedy moments, whether with the sarcastic commentaries "Great pass from Myers there, Zidane just couldn't control it" or the crapper celebs increasingly winding themselves up. Golden moments like Dominic Cooper's very girlie kicks spring to mind, or the throw-in by Heroes actor Jason Kyson Lee when it was supposed to be a corner kick. Oops.

Delicious eye candy like the elegant Damian Lewis and fuzzy-haired Michael Sheen (crush slightly ruined after Dad thought he looked like murderer Peter Sutcliffe) also helped the ticking minutes slip by until the ninetieth minute saw a 2-2 draw and the promise of a nail-biting penalty shoot-out ahead.

If you care enough I've popped the video in below, but let me tell you now that you should. The video is the epitome of increasingly hysterical celebrities stepping up to try and score in a seemingly never-ending series of penalties: the better ones go first until finally, knees knocking, the much more amateur of the bunch step up to the plate. Mike Myers rips off his trackies to have a go, that "hunk" from the Devil Wears Prada flails all over the place, and somewhat predictably, Dominic Cooper fails. What's completely shocking is the winning shot, and who takes it (clues: he first kicked a ball just 8 years ago, has been harassing kids in Battersea Park to play with him, is a massive movie star and has eyes more piercing than lasers...). Enjoy.



The imminent arrival of the World Cup means one thing for the music world: football anthems. I have to say I was bracing myself for another round of Vindaloo/Three lions laddishness. I wasn't disappointed.

Britain's' Got Talent Final was the showcase for the latest in novelty-yet-amazing choons, the probably inevitable collaboration of ultimate LADS Dizzee and Corden.
The song is a fantastic mashup of footy shouts (COME AND HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH), Tears for Fears AND Blackstreets's ayo ayo ayo ayooo riff offof No Diggity. Dizzee's lyrics are to die for:
"Come on England we need to sort it out,
Put the champs down,
Pull your finger out,
Leave the wags alone,
Set aside your ego,
We're tired of bragging about 40 odd years ago,
We need a victory, quick, fast!"

Put simply, it's bloody brilliant and exactly the kind of song this country's going to love to get pumped up to.


In other football-anthem-related news, I spotted this pic posted on Twitter of We Are Scientists in the studio recording their piss-take tune Goal England!



Originally recorded for Zane Lowe on Radio One, this is an indie romp which sounds like a manic game of football and the irresistibly catchy GOAL GOAL GOAL refrain. Top marks for making the effort lads.

COME ON ENGLAND!!!


© Miranda Thompson 2010.

We Are Scientists photo from Twitter account.

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

Cumbria 02/06/10

May I first begin by expressing my utter shock and horror regarding the brutal murders of 12 innocent Cumbrians by a man driven to unimaginable extremes of sanity. All my sympathy and wishes go out to the victims, the bereaved and those affected.

News broke on a carefree post-exam trip skipping between chocolate-box Dartmoor villages sheltering from a brilliant blue sky beneath waxy green leaves, these rural idylls in the shape of those Western Cumbrian hamlets and communities shaken to the core. Just this morning I had recieved a family phone call from the car heading to the Lake District for an afternoon of sunshine and smiles on board beat-up boats and pursuing the incessantly energetic dog. A feeling of security turned to one of stomach-churning dread as the radio blared facts and figures impossible to digest: a frantic phone call restored some semblance of calm, but the despair remained.

In no way am I trying to say that I can identify or emphasise with those who have been affected by the disaster: however, it was not just the events of this afternoon but of my home life which makes it all seem terrifyingly close to home.

Rural life is my home life: five miles along twisting single-track lanes to civilisation and certain isolation in the freezing winter makes for a more solitary lifestyle lacking in twenty-four hour shopping, Chinese take-aways and efficient transport links. However, there would be few who would welcome the exchange of bird song for bus beeps, of tractor convoys for roads blocked by lorries, of fluffy lambkins for pointy-nosed ratties.

The violence in the countryside is all the more shocking becuase it ruptures a context which seems completely at odds with the incident. Mass random shootings seem from another world; occurrences consigned to crazed American students, perhaps, or else copycat Chinese crazies.

"Countryside" conjures images of peace, beauty, stillness, broken by the squwak of a pheasant or the clanging of a vehicle over a cattle-grid. Gunshots and bodies slumped on pavements belong to grey inner city shoot-outs. Not any more.

It is saddeningly time to realise that the rural world is one no longer protected by its connotations of peace, beauty and community: it is one so removed from violence and its effects that I fear wounds will run even deeper. Unlike violence in the big city context, which may act more as a pause button on the hustle and bustle of life as knife crime incidents jostle for newspaper space, I worry that incidents such as the Cumbrian murders will bring rural communities to a shuddering, empty, hopeless halt. The sparseness and peacefulness of country life may only serve to amplify the awfulness of the incidents.
I pray that it won't.

Weekenders

Tenuous linkage between weekend (read.mid-week) mini break in Holland and Vampire Weekend's addition to forthcoming R-Patz/Smacked-face-Stewart's latest efforts in Eclipse.

We finished exams. We went to the Netherlands. We had a TOP time.





So much enjoyment of bridges and lamposts in Amsterdam.





















Living the dream with an actual windmill.

Having a rave in our fluorescent fleamarket finds whilst attempting to demonstrate dubstept to the Dutch.

Cheese-tastic at the squeaky clean supermarket. Gouda times.

To top it off, the soundtrack for Eclipse has been officially named and it's a veritable treasure chest of the great and the good: Muse, Florence and the Machine, Metric, The Dead Weather....and The Bravery. Even though I'm definitely not anywhere near a Twi-Hard (I feel the Twilight saga lacks the positivity and optimism enshrined in the High School Musical series), I very much appreciate the immenseness of the music which has been released in accordance with the film.

One track in particular stood out for me and it's not just because of the hilarity contained in the mere fact that a band called Vampire Weeekend has written a song for a film about blood-suckers. "Jonathan Low" is instantly recognisable as a Vampire Weekend number, resplendent with rhythmic drums and anguished vocals, but to my mind there seems to be a greater sense of melancholia dancing in amongst the chirpiness. What do you reckon? At any rate, it's about as delicious as Bella's blood (massive cringeing as I wrote that).





© Miranda Thompson 2010 (all photos my own).

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

Witness the Fitness

One of the most beautiful collaborations I've caught in a while. Perennial favourite Ellie Goulding snuggles up with new kid on the block Lissie, described by the Guardian as a "guitar toting Americana lovechild who belongs in the 1970s" to duet on Lissie's achy-breaky ballad Everywhere I Go in a mash of soaring vocals and tumbling vanilla locks.




I suppose that one of the reasons for posting this is also to celebrate the fact that FINALLY I'm going to see Ellie in Briz this weekend as a part of the immense Dot to Dot festival, (held also in Notthingham and Manchester over the Bank Holiday) a city-centre music festival where you trek between each of the city's varying venues. I went back in 2008 ith the main intent of tracking down French-synt-anglo-wannabes The Teenagers (mission accomplished after hot pursuit of the bassist resulted in a signed French grammar book) and had a banger of a day which was rounded off by the ever fabuolous Mystery Jets, who are also down to finish the live music section, before legends like Jakwob and Doorly take to the decks. Cannot. Actually. Wait.

© 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

Jeals

Let me set the scene: half empty students' union, barely sticky dance-floor, several litres of Pimms sloshing throught the veins and this banger of a tune comes on. (It's only one of my favourite labels, Cash Money, with their Cash Money "Heroes" blasting some solidly immense r'n'b with Lil' Wayne, Jay Sean, Birdman and an extremly a musty-looking Kevin Rudolf. ) Point being, it's another vaguely shit hip-hop-pop collaboration which inspires me to bring out my best pop-and-lock. Holllla.

Despite hailing from rural Lancashire, I've always been a fan of street dance and hip hop, from shunning Step Up 2 on the internet to view it on the big screen in an empty cinema, to awkwardly shuffling about to Justin Timberlake et al in university classes, to ultimately embarking on a hip hop course in Grenoble where I learnt the basics of breakdancing and have been playing on it as my party trick ever since.

I'd like to pay tribute to some of the most amazing dance routines I've been lucky enough to set eyes on and have inspired me to attempt more moves than drawing a Christmas tree or buttering bread. Nothing too ground breaking, but all immense.

The finale from Step Up 2 (The Streets) Soggy yet spine-tingling - Timberland's Bounce provides the perfect showcase for splashy, showy moves and cardiac arrest move is one i'm still endeavouring to emulate.



Picked this one up off Facebook - deliciously slick with a sick soundtrack.



The most hilarious under-5 I think I've ever seen. I want to track this little guy down and have a dance-off even though instinct is screaming that he'd completely do me in...



© 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

International Jukebox

I’ve been a bit lazy this week with exams and all that (on the blog front anyhoo – in library time it’s been a solid 8am-6pm for the last week or so). And whilst my mental muscles ache I thought it would be time to hand the reins over to some people who I would trust with collating my music collection. A little twist: they’re all from different countries.

I suppose the general aim of this blog is to demonstrate the wonders of the World Wide Web, that you can have an online conversation about the latest, freshest beats tearing up American clubs, or even the latest “Swedelicious” offerings and instantaneously check them out via Youtube or Spotify. I love that the exchange of music is so quick-fire and rapid, that the democratisation of music availability means that it’s now so easy to fall in love with new sounds from all corners of the globe.

Thanks mainly to my year abroad, Facebook and Skype means ready access to a few legends with better taste in music than SJP has in shoes, and so via a general thread I grilled them on what their current choons on repeat were. Several pages of music-swappage later, I’ve finally got them down to my personal picks of the crop. If you want to see the most comprehensive list of their offerings, click on the spotify link on the right hand panel. Too good, I know.
From urban North America to rural Wales, The Miranda goes on tour....

We’re kicking off this world tour with what’s caliente down in Madrid. ¡VAMOS!

Ines (Madrid/ Geneva)

Ines offered up a delectable pick n’mix of treasures from Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Passion Pit, but after much deliberation I thought this would be a sweet inclusion. Two minutes and eighteen seconds of trickling-acoustic immenseness by The Weepies, with an adorable video to boot. Gracias chica!!





Emma (Monmouthshire, Wales)

Emma was actually at school with Marina (offof the Diamonds) although she hastens to assure me that her choice was not borne of nepotistic favouritism, and can reveal that leg-warmers and dancing were more her scene at school than bawling out melodies. In Emma’s opinion, the ”whole scenario (of her being famous and having a Selfridges store window) is rather laughable and bizarre”.




Made me think of Regina Spektor just a wee bit, though i suppose that’s par for the course when you’re a throaty, STRONG woman.

Falk (Malmo, Sweden)

I think the blogosphere is missing a new star. Falk’s list to me was so comprehensive that it would take a fair few posts to do it justice!

He went for the new Radio Department (which I’m loving as well), Bombay Bicycle Club and The New Pornographers among others but it was his description of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s “Shadow’s Keeper” as one of the songs on their new record “with several distinct sounds brought close to perfection” which caught my eye. Laddish and lairy, it’s pretty bloody good.





Chris (Brooklyn, US)

Zooming across the Atlantic now, it’s on to Chris’s folk-tastic list: crammed with exactly the type of music necessary for summer road trips and lazy-barbecue days. Specifically, he recommended this Brett Dennen tune which I’m in complete agreement with, not least for the cheeky Mandy Moore video cameo and Dennen’s beautiful barnet.




Last, and by no means least...


Pascal (Ottawa, Canada)

Pascal is officially THE go-to for the latest and greatest in club anthems and their remixes, as well as the best moves to serve up to them. A shout out from P-dawg to “all the coloured gays in Canada” for this record: five minutes of frolics and fierceness in outfits I would sell my mother for.




Massive thanks to all for their contributions and don't forget to check out the entire list over on spotify (link in panel!).

© 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

Food for the Brain

My mind has turned to absolute mush; obscure facts about Nazi occurrences in 1941 and the subsequent historical debates drip out of my chaotic grey mass. Never one to miss out on the fun, my eye has also decided to swell up to what I perceive to be elpahantine proportions (slight exaggeration) and I fear my movements around the darkened corners of the library are akin to Quasimodo's lurking in Notre Dame.

A quick post then before I get back to the delights of academia. When it comes to revision, music is absolutely crucial, especially if you need it turned up loud so as to drown out the yibber-yabber of your next door neighbour's raconteuring of last night shennaniganS. Come next Thursday here's hoping I can embrace some of my own raving and misbehaving, especially with the likes of a post-exam trip to Amsterdam which was booked last night....

Currently on repeat in order of chronological Ipod rotation and seriously recommended to help you through twelve hours of revision doom, let's go.

Morning wake-up call:



Sliding into the long day ahead with the ambient mix of enthralling pop and Lil Wayne spluttering.

Mid-morning stretch between bookshelves:



Mumford and Sons help quell my hunger pangs. Fact.

Post lunch slump:



Banging Outkast rampage helps stave off the everincreasing urge to bury my head among the piles of pointless papers and snooze.

Helping me get to the end of the day: generally anything naughty and nineties. Soothing and introspective acoustics do nothing to kill off fatigue.



Bobby Brown = too good.

As always, I have endeavoured to the best of Spotify's ability to pop them on my playlist; hope you enjoy! Recommendations for any of your own revision/study aids would be massively appreciated!

© 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.