Posts Tagged ‘Kate Bush’
The Letter ‘K’ Mixtape.
Usually I am far more involved in the mixtape element of this blog. I spend hours carefully choosing out the tracks, tracking down or creating a bit of artwork to add to the piece, revisiting the order of the music. But here is the thing, the revelation I was not expecting to make. I have become utterly obsessed with the Olympics. I am watching ALL the sports.
Therefore, here is a hastily compiled letter K mixtape if any of you out there happen to be nonplussed with the sport fever that has taken our fair Island by storm. From Kelis to The Kinks, Kings of Leon to The Knife.
Listening to Hounds of Love reminds me of a young drunken phase Jo and I used to go through, where we would take off our shoes and launch them without caring to look where or what they’d potentially hit when the lyrics seemed to command it. If you have been clobbered by a passing ballet shoe during this song get in touch, we probably owe you a pint.
You can play my letter K mixtape on Spotify or YouTube. ♥
- Karen O & The Kids – All is Love
- Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
- The Knife – Heartbeats
- Kelis – Young, Fresh ‘N’ New
- The Kills – Last Day of Magic
- Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – Going up the Country
- The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
- Kathleen Edwards – Change the Sheets
- Kurt Vile – Runner Ups
- Kings of Leon – Red Morning Light
Sunday Swoon. January 29th
Figured I’d add to the weekly pressure of delivering a weekly mixtape by attempting to post a mini blog each Sunday as well. This will be my top 5 from the week. It may be an album release, something I’ve put in my mouth, a gig, a cocktail, a moment, a music video, a blog, an exhibition, a poem, a photo, a book. On its debut my Sunday swoon this week is made up of the following…
1. Courtesy of a Tweet from 6 Music I discovered the shadow puppetry video for Kate Bush ~ Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe. I can’t quite put my finger on a memory from my childhood, there was a programme that used this ancient theatre art of telling a story. Perhaps it’s an old fairytale I can’t quite bring to mind now I’m a jaded old adult.
2. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time, I was so determined to finish it that I was reading it under my desk in between meetings. I don’t want to go into detail as if you’re looking for a good read I don’t want to give you any spoilers. Some of the best character writing I’ve devoured in a long time, bright, quirky and pulls at your heart-strings over matters you’re least expecting to feel emotional about. The Guardian published an insightful review if you do want a professional account, but I read this without knowing any details and think I got the most from it this way.
“One key ingredient of so-called experience is the delusional faith that it is unique and special, that those included in it are privileged and those excluded from it are missing out”
The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
3. Francois & The Atlas Mountains released E Volvo Love this week. It seems to now be my default commuter jam album. I’m instantly transported to a gite, wine on tap, cheese at my fingertips and an inner calm that helps me zone out from the man trying to ram his gym bag up my bum. Also, in their video for Les Plus Beaux, feet have never looked so attractive. My French is rusty but I believe the song title translates to the best, or most beautiful (correct me if I’m inevitably wrong)?? He must be referring to those toes!
4. First gig of 2012 will taken some beating. The Maccabees at Brixton Academy on Thursday will be a cherished memory for the entire year. Three albums in means they have quite a back catalogue to draw on and subtle, mature tracks from Given To The Wild blended easily with earlier anthemic crowd rousing songs. We left it late getting tickets so were up in the Gods but none of the atmosphere or sound was lost and we were on our feet for the entire set dancing to the point of collapsed topknots and aching heels. I’ve created a spotify playlist of the set The Maccabees played here. Live highlight has to be the sense of occasion and new lease of life track Feel To Follow has live. Shivers and goose pimples.
5. The story of a lost Nick Drake recording of Cello Song found by Michael Burdett in the bins behind Island Records HQ in London where he was employed as a post boy charmed me to childish joy this week. Years later it’s resulted in an exhibition called The Strange Face Project which you can see at The Idea Generation Gallery in East London. Tragically, after the initial joy and wonder wore off I’ve spent the week in a mild panic over how many rare recordings have been turfed out into the bins or had the top 40 recorded over them through the years. ♥
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A Christmas Mixtape
When I was a small child I used to decorate the house by unwrapping every Lil-let I could find in the house and hang them from the Christmas tree or sellotape them dangling from the window frames. I was too young to know what their real purpose in life was for. However, I must have known it was wrong as I would only ever Blue Peter the house up, using sanitary products, when my mums back was turned. I remember still feeling slightly perplexed as she frantically ran round the house tearing down all my hard work before guests arrived.
Inevitably one fluffy white icicle would always remain unspotted, which possibly spurred me on to keep repeating this action until I was old enough to know better.
Merry Christmas to everyone that’s ever supported, stumbled upon, shrugged off this blog. Hang an unused tampon from your doorbell this year if you want to scare away the carol singers. This tip (and the mixtape below) are my gift to you.
Click here to play the mixtape. I’m especially fond of Jarvis Cocker dancing in Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds video, and if you have never heard Cyndi Lauper & The Hives, In A Christmas Duel, you will instantly want to dangle mistletoe over their heads and snog their faces off. ♥
- Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler – (Don’t Call Me) Mrs Christmas
- Saint Etienne – I Was Born On Christmas Day
- Cyndi Lauper & The Hives – In A Christmas Duel
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Fifteen Foot Of Pure White Snow
- Lynrd Skynrd – Santa’s Messin’ With The Kids
- Ike & Tina Turner – Merry Christmas Baby
- Summer Camp – All I Wonderful Christmas Is You
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – All I Want For Christmas
- Dolly Parton – Hard Candy Christmas
- The Ronettes – Sleigh Ride
- The Pogues & Kirsty McColl – Fairytale Of New York
- Bob Dylan – Hark The Herald Angels Sing
- Kate Bush – December Will Be Magic Again
- Wham – Last Christmas
- Al Green – The Christmas Song
- Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
- She & Him – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
- The Kills – Silent Night
- Elvis Presley & Martina McBride – Blue Christmas
- Clarence Carter – Back Door Santa
- Sufjan Stevens – Put The Lights On The Tree
- Slow Club – Christmas TV
- The Maccabees – Home Alone Medley
- Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
October 3rd Mixtape
How can I follow in the footsteps of Dan Thompson’s guest mixtape last week? I can but give it my best shot and bat the pressure away like the summer seems to be ignoring its October. The leaves are metal browns and rusting on the floor and I’m stepping over conkers when I leave my flat. Strange days but I shall plod on with all the Autumnal excitement I have planned. Jarvis Cocker releases his first book this month which I’m dizzily excited about, more live reviews for Flush The Fashion lined up (TBR), chilly walks along the Thames, Wu Lyf at Shepherds Bush Empire and as soon as the weather pipes down I can dust off the knitwear and read graphic novels in Soho coffee shops.
If you’re a Spotify user click here to play the mixtape. ♥
1. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Heatwave (my parents swanned off to Ibiza last week. It’s raining there. It’s roasting here. My mum will have tons of books to read, I think my Dad would have packed Shredded Wheat. This is for them).
2. Belafonte – Jump In The Line (most of you will know this track from Beetlejuice, at least those of you around my age. They played this song in The Good Ship, Kilburn, in the early hours of Sunday morning. I was just beginning to flag but this got the boy and I back up dancing…probably quite badly. I vaguely remember us bumping hips a lot).
3. The Pretenders – Don’t Get Me Wrong (I worshipped Chrissie Hynde when I was a kid. This song was on the first ever album I owned, the compilation Hits 5! It’s a song I always turn to when I need to pick myself up, lift my spirits. The lyric “I might be great tomorrow, but hopeless yesterday” always makes me grin from ear to ear.).
4. CSS – Red Alert (Have been slow to play their new album, I’m always a little fearful that nothing will live up to their first single, Let’s make love and listen to death from above. This has sort of jammed in my brain quite nicely though, and Lovefoxxx is a sexy musical ball of energy).
5. Moloko – The Time Is Now (another track that always makes me think anything is possible, destiny/fate/hard work and slogging it out will get me where I need to be. I once heard someone describe Roisin Murphy’s vocals as “a voice you’d want to f**k”, I don’t have the words to better that & I’m not sure what it says about me that I understand what they’re saying perfectly).
6. The Go! Team – Grip Like A Vice (Sunday afternoon at Glastonbury I was in a sorry state. Actually that doesn’t quite cover it. I felt like weeping, my head felt like someone had emptied month old bin bags into it, nothing tasted right. I was laying on the floor when The Go! Team came on and I jumped to my feet. They gave me my second wind when I most needed it).
7. The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry (I point-blank refuse to belive there’s anyone out there that doesn’t love this song. It’s a love song for boys and that makes it the most romantic song in the world to me. Chaps if you ever need to pull a massive apology out of the bag to win back someone you love this will win).
8. The Housemartins – Happy Hour (I know members of The Housemartins went on to achieve great success with their musical projects after they disbanded, but even if you put all of that material together, times it by a million, it still does not beat this track. In all my years on sticky indie dancefloors I’ve never heard it played enough so I have to copy their dancing in my bedroom).
9. Kate Bush – The Big Sky (My favourite female artist. I always remember a drunken night with my best friend and a boy named Jodie who had ended up crashing at my old flat in Holloway. We stayed up all night listening to her whole back catalogue on vinyl. No such thing as a Kate Bush overdose).
10. Michael Kiwanuka – I’m Getting Ready (Feels a bit disjointed to be ending an upbeat mixtape on this track but its stuck to me like a limpet this week, 6 music have been giving this a lot of air play which could explain why. It’s just such a beautiful track and the tone of his voice feels like a heartfelt sigh. Stunning).
From Desk Till Dawn 