Posts Tagged ‘Sunday Swoon’
Midweek Swoon. March 20th. 2013
It feels like an exceptionally busy week for music so I thought I’d post a midweek round-up today instead of on the not-so regular Sunday Swoon (by the weekend I predict witterings over Adam Buxton’s BUG, Polica and Wilton’s Music Hall).
1. Vampire Weekend popped up with two new songs this week, Diane Young and Step. A band always synonymous of festivals, the smell of damp grass and the taste of rum and coke for me. Happy to have them back. Both songs being streamed on their website.
2. Suede have released Bloodsports twenty years after their debut album, making me feel exceptionally old. Brett Anderson is still insisting on using words like semaphore, slither, gutters and aerosols in his lyrics but I will always adore this band and Bloodsports hasn’t failed me. It feels like typical Suede and that gets my seal of approval.
3. The internet went into meltdown hyper mode on Sunday evening when Beyoncé released snippets of two new songs Bow Down and I Been On. I am beyond words as I usually am over her, super fan. Just listen. Also this promo for her forthcoming Mrs. Carter tour makes me want to live in her idea of a royal court.
4. The debut album If You Leave from London trio Daughter is released this week. It makes me melancholy and calls regrets to mind. That’s the beauty of music, when an overwhelming emotion or memory arrives from nowhere even on the happiest of days.
You can also listen to the new album Delta Machine from Depeche Mode and watch JT in his new video for Mirrors. Told you it’s a busy week. Back to work.
Sunday Swoon. January 27th 2013
1. If you’re looking for a warm, funny and intelligent film to go and see at the cinema then The Sessions is currently playing in UK. Based on the autobiography of poet Mark O’Brien, a man confined to an Iron Lung, who is determined to lose his virginity at the age of 38. He is helped by his priest, friends and a therapist. Starring Helen Hunt, William H Macy and John Hawkes.
2. Virgin Cure by Ami McKay is the tale of Moth, a girl born in the roughest slum in New York in 1871. When she is 12 her mother sells her to become a maid. From there her tale of survival begins. It’s a charming and tragic tale full of characters with both ugly and beautiful character traits.
3. AlunaGeorge features in the BBCs Sound of 2013 list. Disclosures track White Noise features this young duo and it’s stunning. I’ve played it every day this week.
4. It seems London’s stomach won’t slow down in its mission to fatten itself on burgers. Patty & Bun is the latest no reservations burger restaurant getting top reviews. On this occasion the praise is worth it. My ‘ARI GOLD’ Cheeseburger was the perfect patty, tangy red pickles in a brioche bun. Rosemary chips were salty and golden. The service was far superior to any other place I’ve visited recently, friendly staff clearly enjoying their jobs with huge smiles on their faces. Check out their website here.
Sunday Swoon. January 20th 2013
1. Shout Out Louds have returned with Walking In Your Footsteps and sold out a London show at The Lexington almost immediately. Hopefully they’ll be on the festival circuit over the summer. This sounds like a Swedish Phoenix track.
2. This is the first album released this year that I was itching to hear. Following up from 2010′s Becoming A Jackal Conor O’Brien brings us {Awayland}. It’s roots remaining in the folk music present on Villagers first album, yet it’s also something entirely different. The Waves is monotone blips and poetic for example. However it’s the track above, Earthly Pleasures, that really stands out for me.
3. This track from Junip, Jose Gonzalez’s band, is simply lovely. Line of Fire is taken from their album due out in the Spring. Feels like the perfect soundtrack as I watch the snow fall across the roof tops in London today.
4. When you a band suddenly arrives in your life and you discover you’re actually a couple of albums behind? Dutch Uncles released their third album, Out of Touch in the Wild, this week. Listen to the strings and envy the dance moves in Flexxin. You’ll also instantly adore them if you’re years behind like myself (what an idiot).
5. I am mainly excited about Justin Timberlake releasing a track because I used to hugely love watching his dance moves in the videos for his singles. Guilty pleasure for the trouser snake I’m afraid. The first 40 seconds are misleading but after that this song is catchy enough. His website crashed just on the countdown for this so he can clearly command a lot of excitement.
Sunday Swoon. January 6th. 2013
1. I cannot recommend a visit to Dennis Severs’ house enough. At 18 Folgate Street in Spitafileds stands a house frozen between 1724 and 1914. While I could bore you with my adoration and excitement of every room from basement to attic part of the wonder was going in blind and uneducated. Don’t read up too much, Dennis Sever intended for us to let the sights, sounds and smells fuel your imagination. I think if I went during each season I would have a different experience each time (so I plan to do so this year). You can book via their website.
2. There’s a ton of new music due out shortly that I’m geeking out over. Starting 2013 off with a new Pulp song produced by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is a start I wasn’t expecting.
3. Life of Pi is one of my favourite books and it’s hard for me to believe I first picked it up 11 years ago, intrigued by the cover. I always get itchy when films do their take on literature. This is visually beautiful, one of those rare films where 3D does add to the overall experience. My only concern is people are going along to look at the animals and missing the spiritual message that is key to Yann Martel’s book.
4. Voodoo Ray’s on Kingsland Road, Dalston, is officially my number one pizza spot in London (Franco Manca’s held on to its title for a year). Authentic New York pizza by the slice, Brooklyn lager, super friendly service that comes with genuine smiles and a very talented in-house artist who decorates the pizza boxes.
5. I wish I’d had thought to do a Twitter Q&A on The Hobbit when it was released, answers courtesy of my mum who knows everything there is to know about the book. I didn’t realise just how much of a super Tolkien nerd she was even though this would have been one of the fist books she read to all her children. I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy from Peter Jackson (it’s funny to see how dated it now looks). The Hobbit didn’t disappoint, although no need to pay extra for 3D. Great to see so many English Actors in main roles.
NB: You can tell it’s Christmas blockbuster time at the cinema seeing as I’ve been twice in the space of two weeks. That’s nearly half the amount of times I went during the whole of 2012.
Sunday Swoon. December 16th
1. John Grant has confirmed a new album Pale Green Ghosts will be released 11th March 2013 and has released a track of the same name this week. A touch of Wild Beasts about it, at least to my ears.
2. I swear on all that is good on this green earth that Bone Daddies cured my hangover by the time I got to the bottom of my bowl of Ramen, served up over a loud soundtrack with a diet coke. I had the Tantanmen, the chilli giving a massive kick to the rich and hearty bone broth. I’m not sure if it was The Rolling Stones blaring out or the food itself but I left with the hangover kicked to the kerb.
3. Easily in my top 50 tracks this year How To Dress Well has released an official video to & It Was U this week in conjunction with Urban Outfitters. A Spiritual gathering waiting for their leader to glide in on a Segway drapes in dandelion yellow. The only negative being I’d have liked for Tom Krell to have been riding it.
4. Two girl crushes, St. Vincent and Alexis Krauss, join my original girl crush Cyndi Lauper (dating back to The Goonies release date when I’d have been eight years old) on stage to perform Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Yes it’s an amateur video but that’s the beauty of the internet. We get to see these little moments happen. Oh yeah, and Rosie O’Donnell is on drums.
5. Although I’m not a huge fan of this particular track I adore this video. Winona Ryder reunited with director Tim Burton on Brighton Beach. I’m off to watch Edward Scissorhands.
Sunday Swoon. December 9th
All about the tunes…
1. Darwin Deez has returned this week with a track of his forthcoming album The Editorial Me. His videos always somehow strike a beautiful balance between humour and forlorn reality, his video for DNA always inducing a heartfelt sigh from me at the very end. A joyous, bizarre and uplifting Glastonbury highlight in 2011. Can’t wait to see him again in February.
2. Scott Walker has come out of his somewhat reclusive life to release Bish Bosch this week. Irrespective of how accessible some of his albums may be (I had a gloriously bizarre night at the Barbican celebrating his albums Tilt and Drift) he is a rare musical genius. Listen alone with open ears… it made me feel strange, in a way that only Scott Walker can.
3. This somehow escaped me last week. Veronica Falls with Teenage. A sort of upbeat song about giving up, I adore it and they should be in every music lovers record collection.
4. As if Darwin Deez cheering my life wasn’t enough Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds also made a return this week to keep me firmly grounded with We Know Who U R. How this man manages to make dark and menacing sound like the most inviting place in the world I’ll never fathom.
5. No new track to play you but just old-fashioned excitement that Phoenix are set to release a new album in April 2013 as reported by Pitchfork this week. Strangely I had been playing Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix pretty much on repeat this week. Some cosmic sign was telling me they would be back.
Sunday Swoon. September 23rd
This week I need to talk to you about How To Dress Well and eating your five a day….
1. The second album from How To Dress Well was released this week and on first listen it was immediately cemented in my top albums this year. It’s genius, excellent, I can’t heap enough praise on how intricate and clever it is. At times R&B smooth, at others arty and poetic. & It Was U is my standout track on the album. You can stream it on The Guardian’s site but then I insist you fall head over heels and trot out to buy a copy.
2. Sadly by the time you read this the Road to 2012 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery will no longer be. Slowly and surely the remnants of the Olympics and Paralympics are disappearing. I am clinging to them as much as I can, digging my nails in and silently screaming “nnoooooo, don’t leave me”. This featured photographic portraits everyone from Martin Creed to Katherine Grainger. As the exhibition started before the events the gallery had kindly stickered the medallists in corresponding colours. Lovely stuff.
Riverford Field Kitchen
3. Tucked away in Totnes, Devon is Riverford Field Kitchen and it’s without doubt one of my favourite places to eat. The vegetables come from their farm surrounding the restaurant and recipes ensure you overdose on essential vitamins. You’re served on long tables, generous sized bowls are placed on the table for you to heap onto your plate. Griddled leeks with French Beans, lemon and olive oil. Pointed cabbage with garlic and parmesan. Yes, that is a huge tray of Pork scratching in the photo above. To top it all off the (handsome) chef’s talk you through a choice of five puddings to make sure you leave stuffed. The quality is outstanding, absurdly good. If you ever find yourself down south book in advance.
4. I know very well people fell out of love with The Killers after Hot Fuss and granted nothing has quite lived up to the synths and indie glitz of their debut album but they’re still in my heart. Remember, I loathe musical snobbery so don’t come moaning to me about them as I shan’t be swayed. Battle Born was released this week. The brilliant fairsharemusic have it for just £5 and 50% of profits go to charity so it’s a cheaper, more wholesome alternative to iTunes.
Dirty Burger
5. Swimming makes me utterly ravenous and Dirty Burger was worth walking across Hampstead Heath shivering in the rain for. Tucked away on Highgate Road you enter what looks like a no thrills shack but it’s warm, cosy and playing some seriously good music. The chips were crispy, the milkshake fruity and thick and the burger amazing quality (the juice dripping onto my hands, a curious yellow tinge to it from the mustard smeared on the pattie). Go visit. Believe the hype.
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Sunday Swoon. August 26th
Its been a few weeks since I posted my weekly round-up. I have a new obsession with Lido’s and running around my local park. Time is ticking before half of London’s close for the winter however so service shall be resumed. A musical, book nerdy, Hackney mix below…
1. I was late to the hype surrounding Jessie Ware but now I have the album I find myself regularly lost in what sounds like the love child of Sade and Prince. Album Devotion is out now, instantly accessible and a pleasure to the ears from start to finish.
2. Every now and again a book lands in my hands that I just get utterly lost in and can’t put down. Thanks to Phil on Twitter Ben Aaronvitch came to my attention and in a week I’ve read both Rivers of London and Moon Over Soho. Think Neil Gaiman meets Luther under London skies. Itching to read the third in this series. I want to magic Peter Grant (the lead character) into existence. Somehow.
3. The lovely people behind Hackney WickED couldn’t host their two-day festival this year due to the Olympics, but they still managed to deliver a smaller knees up in a Shoreditch car park. Good cocktails, local artists, the weird and wonderful all served up on battered leather sofas and sand. Such a shame I couldn’t repeat last years weekend but looking forward to its return to the Wick next year. Photo’s from last year on Flickr. See their website for more events and open studio days.
4. One of my biggest band crushes Sleigh Bells have just released a video for End of the Line. Alexis Krauss looks like a Bronte vampire while she laments over the end of a relationship. I love this. Gives me the urge to be barefoot in rags and red lipstick, wandering over Hampstead Heath.
5. When I spotted Stealing Sheep had released Into The Diamond Sun it was a lesson in how time flies as I could have sworn I reviewed Noah & The Paper Moon a couple of months back for Flush The Fashion. Turns out that was November last year. This follow-up is trippy folk and is a contender for my album of the year.
Sunday Swoon. July 22nd
Pelicans, Mist and Sausages…
1. Finally got my chops around a Big Apple Hot Dog on Friday. Smoky, Chunky and Juicy. Anyone suspicious of exactly what meat usually goes into hot dogs will have their faith restored by this local London business. 94 – 98% meat content accompanied by pickles, every mustard you can think of, freshly baked buns. Track down their whereabouts on their website.
2. The debut book by Erick Setiawan, Of Bees And Mist, has a touch of Neil Gaiman about it in the element of magic and the fantastical. Centred around three strong and proud women tied together by family is saddening, life affirming and deals with the tough choices women have to make on a daily basis wrapped up in a fairytale. All from a young, male author.
3. The third single from Lucy Rose was released this week. Adore the unexpected pace change in Lines, around 40 seconds in. Her debut album is released in September and if the strength of her releases so far are the level to prejudge then it could be a contender for my album of the year.
4. Had a very merry (and by merry I mean very drunk) night at Zoo Lates on Friday. Such a fantastic idea, that us adults get to be as giddy as the children but with a pint in our hand. I have a new-found love for Pelicans, by far the most entertaining. Such a comic way of preening, dancing and parading. Now The Maccabees song has a new memory attached to it. You can book on London Zoo’s website.
5. BBC’s The Hollow Crown came to its conclusion with Henry V last night. I am not brave enough to put into words just how brilliant the adaptations have been. All actors involved, and those that made it possible, produced something to be truly proud about. Of course it wouldn’t exist had it not been for Shakespeare. A man we have so much to be grateful for. Catch it while it’s on iPlayer, I urge you. I was utterly blown away by it.
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother”
- William Shakespeare, Henry V
