Indietronic Avenue

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming by M83

Woop, I return! I’m hoping this won’t be the one and only post I’ll do on this blog after my “countdown” ended, but we’ll see…

I have been dabbling with creating another blog, and maybe trying to amalgamate (great word) the two, but that’s too complicated for me at the moment, so while I have a mess around with that every now and again, I thought I’d do a petit (who am I kidding?!) post on here.

I want to talk about a couple of bands, and basically a whole genre of music, that I have been liking lately – electric/electronica/indie-electric/indietronic/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. The fact that I have developed a liking for these sorts of bands is a bit surprising to me; I definitely think of myself as a folk-pop-rock-indie gal and don’t venture into many other areas, other than the odd artist here and there. I suppose some clues were there – I liked MGMT, Empire of the Sun, the poppy-electric style of Ellie Goulding, and a lot of what you’d call modern ‘indie’ leans towards electric/alternative these days. But my enthusiasm for the genre has developed and increased lately.

The main culprit for this love is M83, whom I’m going to wang on about for a bit (you are warned). Not too long ago I bought their/his album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming because of Midnight City (RIDICULOUSLY overused, but I still don’t quite completely hate it… yet) and also the second single Reunion. Like a lot of great purchases, it was a bit of a whim. I had read a little about M83 – learning that they were originally a French duo but are now pretty much one guy – Anthony Gonzalez, and have had about five albums already. I like it when there is so much more to a band than some people would know. I bet the majority of people think they are some new indie-electronic band with a one-hit-wonder in Midnight City (I know I did to begin with), but oh no, there’s a whole back story. I’m sure there are thousands of people that already knew all about M83, but ANYWAY, back on track – other than the singles and the little I’d looked up, I didn’t really know what else to expect from this album, and at first I felt a bit overwhelmed – it’s a double CD with over 20 tracks. I always prefer a long album to a short one, but this was quite mammoth. I needn’t have worried, though; all 22 tracks are some degree of beautiful.

The first track that really grabbed me is called Raconte-Moi Une Histoire. It’s very bizarre, but for some reason brilliant. Although, very sadly, it’s already lost its original, new, brilliant shine, and I’m now a bit too familiar with it. But, it’s alright, after, say, a year of not listening to it, I might be able to get back some of the original brilliance (this is the warped relationship I have with music, unfortunately). The bizarre element comes from the reading of a ‘story’ by a little girl that plays over the music. It’s a psychedelic account of encountering a frog, and the sickly-sweet tones of the (American-accented) girl are rather irritating, but it’s the music behind it that is genius. I am always one to appreciate melody and music rather than the lyrics. For me, music is about the sound, not really the words and meaning – how ironic considering my whole ‘words and music’ theme for this blog! FAIL! But anyway, the build-up (I’m sure there’s a better, technical music word for it – crescendo?!) is a whole load of awesome. I will have to post the video at the end of this post.

Apparently, M83 fall within what you call the ‘shoegazing‘ genre. Being a bit of a rookie when it comes to the music industry (although I like to pretend I’m not), I hadn’t heard of this genre before. Seemingly it’s a big deal; artists that like to ‘shoegaze’ include Kurt Vile, Smashing Pumpkins, Mazzy Star, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Chapel Club and The Verve, and they’re only the ones I’ve heard of. Now we have ‘nu gaze‘ too, which includes Beach House, Crystal Castles, The Joy Formidable, Wavves, Yuck, The Horrors and Neon Indian. I’m not sure I’m definitely a nu gaze fan, but I am leaning towards it. I think my genre-du-jour is more ‘Indietronica’…

I’ve recently bought albums by Fixers, Alt-J and Passion Pit, all a bit electro-y, and the latter of which are included on Wikipedia’s Indietronica list along with some other artists I like (or think I like) – Ellie Goulding, Empire of the Sun, Friendly Fires, Grimes, Grouplove, Metronomy, MGMT, Miami Horror, The Naked and Famous, Neon Indian, Patrick Wolf, Purity Ring (LOVE Fineshrines and think I’m going to buy their album Shrines), Washed Out and The xx. They also list M83 here, too. It’s probably not very interesting to say I have started to like this sort of music recently, because I think this is just where the ‘trend’ in (indie) music is – most new, up and coming acts, like Grimes and Jessie Ware, are in this vein. But hey-ho, I like the way it’s going and I’m embracing it.

Thanks for reading, see you in two months again!?

L x

Raconte-Moi Une Histoire by M83. Love the perfect rhyming of that title. Voila:

Your Young

Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me by The Pipettes

No, I have not made the fatal mistake of confusing ‘your’ and ‘you’re’, that would just be EMBARRASSING, no, I’m just making a title from the two words I am talking about today: ‘Young’ and ‘Your’.

Being ‘Young’ and the idea of youthfulness is always an attractive notion. I think I’d be right in saying that the majority of people don’t want to grow old, apart from when you are actually young – I’d say up until I was about 17 I wanted to be older, after that it was all downhill and now I’m constantly wishing I was younger again. And I’m only 22. It’s just going to get worse. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that youth is a topic that sparks a lot of conversation because it is desirable and alluring and goes hand in hand with innocence, naïvety and general happiness. Just ask those annoying Fun. guys. If you remember, ‘Old’ came up a couple of times, and at the time I just compared it to the frequency of the word ‘New’, not really thinking how its antonym could also be ‘Young’. I think it just shows that age is something that is frequently in the thoughts of songwriters, as you would expect. Once again I’m dealing with ground-breaking stuff here…

So, here are the ‘Young’ ones:

Young Blood - The Naked & Famous (from Passive Me, Aggressive You, which I bought fairly recently and is quite good)

Young Lions – The Maccabees

Young Love - Mystery Jets feat. Laura Marling

So now to ‘Your’. I think I will just refer you to the previous post on ‘You’ for this one, because ‘Your’ is just the possessive version of the second person pronoun, not much else to say here…

Your Biggest Mistake – Ellie Goulding

Your Eyes – Bombay Bicycle Club

Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me – The Pipettes (don’t know how I came across this song, it must have been years ago now, but I downloaded this and another song by The Pipettes - Dirty Mind. They’re fifties-styley, Phil Spector-like songs that are upbeat, simple and fun)

Your Protector – Fleet Foxes (beautiful song, of course)

Your Song – Kate Walsh (not THAT Your Song, but a different one. Think I just saw Kate Walsh’s album Tim’s House advertised on the telly once, and so downloaded this song and one called Fireworks from the album. Very simple, sweet, singer-songwriter music.)

OK, we really are near the end now. Only The Youth by MGMT (more young-ness) and Yr Mangled Heart by The Gossip round out ‘Y’. Then I have a couple of ‘Z’s and some number songs and that is it. So the next post may be the last in this alphabet song title countdown fun. It hasn’t been the success I’d have hoped, but I’ve enjoyed writing these posts, and that’s all I could really have asked for. I have ideas on what I’d like to blog about next, and it may be completely different, on a bit of random tangent, but I’ll reveal all another time.

Alright, bye.

L x

We’re Going Under

What Did You Expect from the Vaccines by The Vaccines (Under Your Thumb)

So, onto ‘U’. I only have about 15 ‘U’ songs, but out of those 15 I’m going to manage to make two posts, because there are two words that come up a couple of times. The first one of these is ‘Under’.

After U.R.A Fever by The Kills (rockin’ song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3fZP7QC4PE&ob=av3e considering buying more Kills stuff actually) I have 6 songs that start with the word ‘Under’. I wouldn’t have pegged ‘Under’ to be a word that’s used a lot in songs… I suppose it’s means more than being beneath something physically; it can be in a metaphorical sense, like being ‘under a spell’, or under someone in terms of superiority. And obviously you could be ‘under someone’ physically too… hmm.

Anyway, as usual I’m against the clock and want to finish this before a TV programme starts (Homeland again), though I’m being distracted at the moment by that Once Upon a Time programme on 5 (fairly good, but mostly for Robert Carlyle being Rumpelstiltskin and the looker that is Jamie Dornan…. anyway), so here are my ‘Under’ songs:

Under African Skies – Paul Simon (from Graceland, so wonderful)

Under My Thumb – Rolling Stones (after getting bored with the whole of Forty Licks, I just selected the Rolling Stones songs that I liked enough to not skip when they come on shuffle when I was putting everything on my new iPod, this made the cut)

Under the Sheets – Ellie Goulding

Under the Stars – Hans Zimmer (from the Lion King Soundtrack again. = crying)

Under the Sun – Kidda (from a Bacardi advert a while ago. I don’t really like this sort of music – dance, I suppose you’d call it, though I have no idea… But for some reason I really liked this song, it just seems very summery I think)

Under Your Thumb – The Vaccines (an album track from What Did You Expect from the Vaccines. Really love this one, and not just because it’s about a girl called Eleanor, which is my middle name. Everyone likes songs that mention their name, right? Like School Uniforms by The Wombats which is about a ‘Sweet Louise’. Yes, I’m vain, and I ain’t gonna hide it)

So, which song shall be the feature of my picture and video? I assume fewer people will have heard the Kidda song (though may recognise it from the advert), but the Vaccines song is pretty good… argh. I think I’ll go with the Vaccines, but the Kidda song is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suNBqN-e_B8 it really kicks in just before 1 minute in.

OK, I’m going ‘Up’ next week, so see ya then.

L x

(No exciting video as it wasn’t released as a single, but just so you can hear it:)

Take This

This Is the Sea by The Waterboys

Hello. I’m onto the letter ‘T’ and the first word I get to is ‘Take’.

‘Take’ can be a bit of an aggressive verb; not quite stealing, but almost. You can take someone’s heart away, for example. Although saying that, you can also ‘take care’ of someone, which is the opposite of aggression. Interesting… I suppose it just depends what you’re taking as to whether it’s seen as a positive or negative action.

Anyway, enough of this pointless chit-chat, the ‘Take’ songs are:

Take a Chance On Me - ABBA (no need to explain this, I don’t think)

Take the Right One – Bombay Bicycle Club (I’ve only discovered a love for Bombay Bicycle Club quite recently. I already had their song Shuffle from their latest album - A Different Kind of Fix, and really liked it, but I had never really paid attention to their previous work. It was only when I was in HMV on one of my trips that I saw their first two albums I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose and Flaws for two for £10, so decided to buy them on the basis of Shuffle. After a few repeated listens I wasn’t disappointed, so recently bought the whole of A Different Kind of Fix, from which this song is from.)

Take What You Take - Lily Allen (I have her Alright, Still album and have given it a second chance on my new iPod after getting tired of it originally. The songs are all quite ‘fun’.)

That’s that for ‘Take’. But this is this for ‘This’, or something…

This Is the Sea - The Waterboys (from The Live Adventures of the Waterboys which is not the album my mum had on tape back in the old days I don’t think, but it has most of the songs I know from when I was younger. I like the metaphor of this song – “That was the river, this is the sea” – I’ve put the lyrics to one of the verses on my Tumblr blog. Yes, I have a Tumblr now.)

This Land - Hans Zimmer (instrumental piece from The Lion King soundtrack. Makes me cry almost instantly when I hear it – seems to be one of those triggers that brings back childhood emotions almost subconsciously… yay for being a sentimental Disney child.)

This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)  – Ellie Goulding

This Old Dark Machine - James Vincent McMorrow (had heard of him before, think my sister Kath has some of his songs, and then found out he sang the version of Higher Love on the LoveFilm advert. Then followed him on Twitter, found a version of Wicked Game by him too, and then decided to buy his album when I saw it in HMV again. It’s fairly decent, but think I need to give it a bit more time to build.)

This Old Routine - First Aid Kit (from their second album, which is proving to be really good, though not quite near the first one yet. The song In the Hearts of Men, the third track on this album, is wonderful though.)

This Song - Badly Drawn Boy

This Year’s Love - David Gray (sappy, but lovely, though I need to ration my listening)

I’m not going to talk about ‘This’ much – it’s just a pronoun and one that indicates near presence, rather than far, like ‘That’. And that’ll be it.

See you next ‘Time’ *heavy wink*.

L x

The Waterboys perform This Is the Sea live on The Old Grey Whistle Test:

Little Lions

The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens

Eeek! I have not written a post in a looong time. Woops. Being busy takes up a lot of time, apparently.

And now I have about ten minutes to write this one. So let’s get to it.

I’m talking about ‘Little’ and ‘Lion’ today, though there will be NO mention of that Mumford and Sons song. No offence to them, their music would usually be to my taste, but their songs have been totally whored out by radio, TV, and just generally EVERYWHERE, so I am completely turned off them. Bleurgh.

Anyway… starting with ‘Lion’:

The Lion King – I Just Can’t Wait to be King - Jason Weaver/Laura Williams/Rowan Atkinson (A slight cheat here as technically the title of the song is just the I Just… part, but it’s listed as this on my iPod I think because I downloaded it from some random album. It is here because, of course, The Lion King is probably my favourite childhood film… ever, and Disney songs are just damned good)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens (Also in The Lion King, but a generally great song anyway, even if it hadn’t been used in such a good film. Sing it with me now: ‘A-weeeeeeeeeeeeee……’)

Lion’s Den (Live) - Dry the River (somehow discovered this band on the internet, can’t remember how, but they offered three free mp3 downloads on their website which I loved, and so when I found a six-set live EP of theirs from the iTunes festival I downloaded it also. The singer has a really lovely, high voice, a bit Bon Iver-ish and the songs are folky enough for my liking. Now they just need to release a full album)

Lions are one of the most dramatic and commanding (?) animals around, so I suppose it’s not that surprising there are songs talking ’bout ‘em. It may be interesting to look at other animal-themed songs at some point, but I don’t have the time right now…. one day.

Now ‘Little’:

Little Deuce Coup - The Beach Boys

Little Dreams - Ellie Goulding

Little Honda - The Beach Boys

Little Miss Pipedream - The Wombats (not overly keen on their album, but this song is my favourite, just a small, funny, sweet song. Has some great lyrics too. May put a video below so you can hear them)

So a few ‘Little’s. Don’t know why really, are there a similar amount of songs that have ‘Big’, ‘Large’ or some other quantifying word?? I suppose it’s quite a common adjective, that’s fairly straightforward.

Right, that’s it for now. No time to diddle-daddle, I’ve done enough of that already.

Bye!

L x

Little Miss Pipedream by The Wombats:

I’m Back

Robin Pecknold a.k.a. the Fleet Foxes God

Ouch. Over a week. I cannot allow this to be a regular occurrence. It is not the beginning of the end. No siree.

And so, onwards. We’re onto the contracted ‘I’ forms. Basically ‘I’ll’ and ‘I’m', I have no ‘I’ve’ or ‘I’d’. Maybe because ‘I’ll’ and ‘I’m’ are future/present verbs but ‘I’ve’ and ‘I’d’ are past/conditional verbs??! But I doubt it, why would writers avoid the conditional and past? They usually have plenty to say about those tenses. Anyway….

I have:

I’ll Hold My Breath - Ellie Goulding

I’m Building Myself A Boat - First Aid Kit (oddly I have another similar-titled song, called Building A Boat by The Rumble Strips – I have their album Girls and Weather after finding it for £2.50 in an Oxfam music shop in Ealing, score! – strange how two unrelated bands wrote songs about building boats, I think.)

I’m Losing Myself (feat. Ed Droste) - Robin Pecknold (released as a free three song EP on the net, so obviously I downloaded it. Ed Droste is from Grizzly Bear, and I used to have their album Veckatimest on my iPod, but no longer do because I wasn’t impressed with it. I had really liked their song Two Weeks for ages and had been influenced by effective advertising after seeing a poster for their album repeatedly at a tube station, and so asked for their album for a birthday or Christmas. Once again, it may be because I didn’t give the album enough full plays, but I didn’t take to the other songs and so it was culled from the iPod.)

I’m Not Sleeping - Counting Crows

That be all. Next will be ‘If’, I believe. ‘If’ you come back that is… oh dear. And I WILL be back within a week. I WILL. ‘Memba I told you.

Peace Out.

L x

Home Time

Graceland album by Paul Simon

It’s ‘Home’ time. Even though it’s a Sunday.

I have four songs that begin with ‘Home’. Home can be seen as a mentality or feeling, as well as just a physical place, so it’s no surprise you find it in songs, along with the emotions attached to it.

Here are my ‘Home’s:

Home - Ellie Goulding (a fairly decent track from her Bright Lights album)

Home (acoustic) - Jack Johnson (from his Sleep Through the Static album and again, a bit of a ‘meh’ track. Though it has the lyrics: “Home is wherever we are” which is rather nice)

Homeless - Paul Simon (I have two versions of this, the original and a demo version from his Graceland remastered album. Graceland was another of my mum’s cassettes that we used to listen to frequently in the car when I was younger. So all the songs from that album have seeped deep into my subconscious, almost so much so that I can’t really pass judgement on the quality of the music – I know and love all the songs too well to know if they are actually any good. They are familiar and happy and Paul Simon. That is all.)

Hometown Glory - Adele

And that’s it. Although, I knew that I had more songs with the word ‘Home’ in, so I searched for ‘Home’ in my iPod, and it came up with:

A House Is Not a Home - Field Music (a random find a long time ago, along with another song by them If Only the Moon Were Up)

In This Home of Ice - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Welcome Home - Radical Face (the song used on the Nikon sponsor adverts for Hollyoaks. Yes, I shamefully watch Hollyoaks quite a bit and one day decided to listen to the full song that was used in the sponsored adverts before and after advert breaks, and realised it was a pretty nice song. It’s a shame I’ve heard a snippet of it so many times, because I think if I hadn’t and had discovered it blindly (or deafly?!), I would have liked it even more. Now, however, it is a nice song, but tarnished by its overplaying.)

I don’t know why I decided to look at ‘Home’ in other positions of the song title which I haven’t done with any other words. I think it was because when I was thinking of the word, I would sing in my head the “I’ve come home..” lyrics from the Radical Face song, but realised that the title was Welcome Home and so not beginning with the word. But this could be a slippery slope… It will destroy my whole pattern and structure if I do this with every word, so this will be the first and last time! Scandal!

This will be it for ‘H’. See you next time, when I have to go about tackling the ‘I’s… could be tricksy.

L x