Vampire Weekend

I have no idea where these guys have gone, but I want them back. Now. They were the band du jour in the summer of 2009, a year after their self-titled first album came out. They then released Contra, their incredible second album, in 2010, and three years later, not a peep has been heard out of them since.

It's a real shame because both of these albums a) showed promise for a properly good pop band and b) had me dancing around like a loon all summer long. My absolute favourite is Oxford Comma , a song about the injustice of the class system, with a great guitar riff. Trust me to pick the deepest one as my favourite...!

Although the two albums are similar in that all the songs have a rhythm and riffs inspired by African music, they're different in their own right. When I first heard Contra, I didn't like it because it wasn't what I was expecting to hear from the people who'd made A-Punk. But really, who wants the expected? A surprise is good for us. It's now one of my favourite albums, and rightly so.

(Truth be told, they're not the most gorgeous of lads, but they make great music.)

'Til next time, folks, hope you enjoyed it! xx

The Doors - LA Woman

I know this album is from quite a while ago, but that really doesn't mean that it's outdated. In fact, it's miles better than the majority of the Top 40. Sorry, make that all of the Top 40 tracks.

Whenever this album comes up on my iPod, I immediately have to start doing hair dancing. You know the kind I mean: head down, knees bent, swooshing your head back and forth so that your hair goes flying around your face. Almost all of the songs on this album use the typical blues structure, but the magic (and utter egoism) of Jim Morrison makes them all seem wholly different. For example, you compare Cars Hiss By My Window and then The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat), and they both have totally different styles and moods. That makes me sounds really pretentious, but there is really no other way to describe them.

And how could you listen to Riders On The Storm and not love it? It begins with the sound of falling rain, and when Jim Morrison enters, there's a ghostly echo repeating every lyric after him. Every time I hear it I get shivers, because it's just so eerie.

Hope you enjoy this one, and I'll get back to you lot as soon as I can! xx

Marnie Stern

I've slightly, ever so weensily, got a bit of a girl crush on Marnie Stern. How could you not?! She's kinda gorgeous and plays guitar like a bad ass. And to top it off, she's awesomely cool. One of the songs on her second album, self-titled Marnie Stern, is called Female Guitarists Are The New Black. And her new album (which is coming out in March!!) is called The Chronicles of Marnia. The gal's pretty cool.

And she can play guitar as well as any man, too. The epic, raging guitar riffs are so cool, every time I hear them I feel like playing air-guitar. Like the proper, jumping-off-beds-and-screaming-to-the-audience-at-Wembley kind of air-guitar. Just listen to her song Nothing Left and you'll see what I mean.

Sorry, this hasn't been a great post, it's just that I'm afraid of rambling on about how cool she is, and I might bore the lot of you. Laters then, guys, and keep checking for updates! xx

The Soundtrack to Pride and Prejudice

I love Pride and Prejudice, like any self-respecting teenage girl looking for a little bit of comfort in her life should. But, I only love the book and the BBC version. Don't even talk to me about the Keira Knightley film, it was all wrong, every bit of it.

The reason I love the BBC version, apart from the Mr Darcy lake scene (ok, a weensy bit freely interpreted) and the fact that the action spans over six hours, is the opening title sequence. The chirpy piano music makes me flutter inside every time I hear it, because I invariabley associate it with Colin Firth on horseback and Jennifer Ehle. It just goes to show the power of a theme tune when making a TV programme. Where would Friends be without the iconic "SO NO ONE TOLD YOU IT WAS GONNA BE THIS WAAAAAAAY"? Or the Big Bang Theory without the notoriously difficult words written specially by Barenaked Ladies? So the point is, Pride and Prejudice really would be nothing without the gorgeous piano introduction.

Listen here to see my point, and then buy the DVD here to get the whole experience!

Update will hopefully come soon, but toodlepip for now! xx

Lucy Rose - Like I Used To

According to Allmusic (the music bible), "Like I Used To", the debut album from Lucy Rose, is "a striking debut" from a "folky, doe-eyed country girl". Now just because Lucy Rose grew up in Warwickshire, it doesn't automatically make her folky.

Although, yes, many of the songs are held together with guitar and delicate vocal lines, many of them have an indie rock undertone that sets her apart from her contemporaries. Lucy Rose is a multi-instrumentalist; she plays both acoustic and electric guitar, piano and the drums, all of which she plays on the album. And the annoying thing is, she can play all of them very, very well. 

What makes "Like I Used To" special is that all the songs have not only been in the pipeline since Lucy Rose was around 17, but they were all recorded either at her family home in Warwickshire, the nuclear bunker in the basement or the village hall. It has a distinctly homey feel, the songs included.Even the homemade videos are part of the personal, intimate feel. Despite this, it all comes together so well; she doesn't compromise on anything, and it all sounds just as it ought to. 

Songs:

Lines 

Night Bus

She also made a documentary type thing of how she recorded the album, worth a watch.

I'll update soon... Hopefully! xx