Don't Go To Sleep

Ok so I woke up late for work. Like an hour late. So by the time I rolled in I was nearly two hours late. I slept in. But not because I followed my own advice about last night's blog, I didn't get to sleep till about 2am :/

Pretty shit really considering at some point in the next week or so I gotta ask for an extra two weeks holiday having just taken a three week holiday which ended last Monday. Need to win some favours with the boss-people.

Determined not to make the same mistake again, tonight's song conveniently called 'Don't Go To Sleep' is so good, you'll be humming to it long after you've finished listening to it. I actually found this song minutes after posting last night's blog.  Before I give you a proper run-down, I just wanna let you all know that I already know what I'm posting tomorrow, and it is lusciously sleepy with a mix of genres - exciting stuff. Anyhow, back to tonight's track.

I don't know much about Zach Nahome, but both his songs on his SoundCloud are pretty awesome. Don't go to sleep starts off with some pretty funky synths and the crazy vocals start.  Firstly a high pitched then a low pitched version of some addictive na-na-na-na-na's. Not in the annoying N-Dubz style, but those that run over again and again. 1.09 the beat drops, and an injection of energy which can best be described as midnight funk. This song is wickedly addictive. You'll be repeating again and again.  At 2.05 when the na-na-na-na-na's combine with the beat, you'll be hard pressed to not move some part of your body. Nobody's watching. Go ahead. Move. And then hit repeat. Liberating.

Sleep

I need sleep. I need it pretty soon. But when I close my eyes, I can't sleep. When I open my eyes, I want to sleep. I want to sleep as I type this.

If you need cheering up, sprucing up, energy enthralled music, tonight, you need to leave this page alone. If however, like me, you want sleep, I have a treat for you.

Come closer, yeah, come closer to the screen, lower your volume to the midway mark, click on either of the two tracks below, then slowly sit back, lean against something soft. And drift. But not for too long, because you have to hear the other song too. Actually, fuck it, just sleep. Listen to the other one tomorrow.

Because I want to sleep, I won't go into detail intro-ing the two tracks. Basically, follow the act, share the love. And yeah, go to sleep.

SizzleBird - makes loads of music, regularly, stunning producer. The song, Stepping Stones, what it lacks in vocals it makes up and then some with the beautiful violin. Listen and Sleep.

n u a g e s - know nothing about this artist, except to say everything on the SoundCloud is exceptional. The song, Faded features the immense Bijou of Iceland. No idea what the vocals are about, but this song feels like it has so many little stories within it. Waffle. Too much. Sleep. Goodnight. Love. xx

Stop, Don't Go

This weekend confirmed it. Summer is gone for sure. But, Autumn, my favourite season is here. The orange hues, the sunday's that force you to do nothing but take a second and take stock of life, the blustery windy weather, the occasional orange hues, the shedding of skin.

I've been back at work this week and its been a bit of a mixed bag. It's nice to be back in familiar surroundings and its horrible having to wake up at stupid o clock. I'm craving a routine and I'm pining of the care free summer all at the same time. Thursday night bought back a regular staple, late night drives from one end of the universe to the other. And then there was Friday, a kinda recovery, a kinda awakening. Late to work, zombie-ing around, pretty incomplete.

And now here I am on Sunday evening looking to get the week ahead under my belt, next weekend promises much. And the weekends after too, life generally promises many things. So bearing in mind all of the above let me introduce you to the magnificent Baby Queens of Cardiff. If I was singing this I would sing this to many things - the summer, the anticipation, the laughter, the love, Thursday - don't go, don't go, stop don't go.

Soothing r'n'b-esque vocals, a lovely lazy guitar and that soft brute bridge, this song and Baby Queens in general will surely be making splashes in the ocean of the music scene. Having said that, 12 SoundCloud likes and 600 odd FaceBook likes is emphatically underwhelming. I'm hoping that this is representative of how fresh these guys are, because judging by their EP, talent certainly justifies a few 0's to be added after the above stats. Lo-fi, meets r'n'b - not something I would normally go for, but these guys make it work and they make it work effortlessly well. Star Light is more rugged, more edgy, more grunt. But Red Light, well Red Light reflects just how I'm feeling now.

Look, there's a metaphorical red light. I cannot wait to see these guys live. Show them some love, this song is beautifully relaxed and poignant.

Lessons

This time I'll do things differently. Lessons learned. Bridges burned. This time I'll do things differently.

See normally, I somehow try to relate a part of my day or my life to match with the song I'm hoping to introduce to you through the post.  Mostly, its a ridiculously loose connection. 

And then sometimes, when the track is THAT good, you feel silly even beginning to try and connect the song with some sort of real-life analogy. The first three lines of this track are basically the complete antithesis of how I feel when I play this song.

I wouldn't do any of it differently. I would make all the mistakes all again.  I would re-live the glory moments all again. In fact the intro to this song and the perfection of the crescendo at 2 mins onwards, I would re-live hundreds of times.  Earlier in this week I watched this film about personal time and how we choose to spend it.  The most poignant moment for me was when the lead character, can't remember  his name at all, so for convenience will call him Jackathon, acts on his father's advice to live a day and then re-live it so that all the negatives can become blessings and all the positives can be seen as gifts. That struck a note with me.  

Anyway forgive me because I tried to make a connection with my life, which is simply unfair. This song is magnificent, and I can't remember feeling this strongly and enthusiastic about music for a long time. Sohn, is simply outstanding. And this song is more so. Listen to it. Share it. Love it.

Incidentally, the last line, 'This time, I'll keep away from you' - couldn't be further from the truth. 9 days need to hurry the f up.

We Are Together

The last time I posted was more than 2 months ago. Its kinda weird, I last posted in summer, on the cusp of one of the most defining periods of my life. And now, I post on the other side. A lot has happened. Tears, laughter, closing of chapters, opening of new ones, exhilaration, euphoria, relief, contentedness.

Yeah, not my usual summer. But it wasn't a usual summer. I know I kinda sound like a narrator of some dodgy american teenage high school drama thing, on the opening day of term. But it was my first day back at work. And it really was a wonderful summer.

To fully encapsulate the feeling I punted for Planet of Sound for my return. And boy does it hit the right note. From the gentle whistling intro to the introduction of a mesmerising guitar riffy acousticy sounding melody.  And that moment when all of it makes sense. Life makes sense at 1.05. The whistling and the acoustics all in one go. The frenzy leading up to the sabbatical-like bridge just prepares you for the whirlwind euphoria of bringing all the elements of the summer colliding back together again at 5.29.  And at last. We Are Together.