Let It Go

Sun. Sand. Laughter. Friends. Love. High. And then energy. Enthusiasm. Fresh. Start.

Lots going on at the moment, most importantly, being able to hand over something very precious to the custody of others for a while, and being ok about it. Thankful that this is all possible. I got this track literally minutes after posting on Friday night. But this is just luscious and perfect for a Monday evening.

Fema Knights aka Fe is definitely one to look out for.  A tempest of emotion. Think Mazzy Star. Think hazy summer evening. Think of letting go...

Polyethers

I'm going to the beach tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend will be a bit of a transition period for me, coming out of a little period of stress to hopefully some exciting pastures. In spirit of that and because I have been posting some weird stuff recently, I thought lets change it up completely.

Py is a brilliant London based singer with a huge future ahead of her. The effortless move from a zany opening two minutes which gets you into a frenzy, Py lends her deep range to a middle 15 seconds or so which sets the tempo for the rest of the song. Soft hearts and hazy fields with fresh coloured flowers. Yup, I'll take that! Click the pic below to be diverted to her soundtrack. (Gotta admit I prefer the Jimmy Edgar remix, but that may be a bit too dance for you lot)

Ambience

Strip it all back and there is just space and sound and how you feel. Nothing else really matters. The other details are like the finishing touches. I'm gonna be truthful, since starting up this blog, I think I must have shared about 12 different genres of music all loosely fitting under the umbrella of this blog's name, a sort of feet up eyes closed moment.

In the 30 odd posts I've shared though nothing is truer to that requirement of listening experience then what is to follow. I have one other requirement for the following tracks though. Don't listen on your laptop speakers or your dodgy phone speakers. Get some earphones, turn it up loud and give it a go.

Dark, moody, ambient, minimalist, ethereal. It all fits the bill.

Let me do a track by track intro of the brilliant Bruised Skies from these shores. Note, though, I have saved the best till last, Signs is by far and a way the standout.

Distant
Barely there. Can't feel the notes or melodies. A whirling swirling experience. It encapsulates you. It encompasses you. And until you've come to the end of the track, you don't fully realise how brilliant this is. This isn't ambient music. It is ambience.

Falling
You know that moment in Terminator 2 when the amazing soundtrack starts playing. Imagine that, but not to an action film about some demi robot. More a tale of complicated decisions which you may have misjudged. Until 2.08 when this transforms into a rally call for missed opportunities. A cry for perseverance. The trinkets lose pace then come into motion again towards the end.

Signs
You're sitting on a beach. Its been a warm day but starts to feel like a chillier evening as sunset approaches. You're reminiscing about the wonders of life, the colour of love, the optimism of childhood. Nothing matters apart from the fact that the sea in front of you is gently swaying in and out. The sand you sit on isn't warm like it was when you sat down a half hour ago. A gentle twinkle catches the corner of your eye as the first stars come out of hiding. A cool breeze runs over your shoulder sending a tinge of a shiver down your spine. You start to drift away with your thoughts. You feel like you're barely there. But being here has never felt so poignant. And as the sun descends and a shade of night falls, you treasure the last moments deeply. You don't miss the sun and the hope it brings until it fades. You'll feel the same when this song finishes. I wish it stayed forever.

Passion

Sometimes the stresses of life and the nuances of our society can get a bit much. Not like to wrist-slitting levels. But more so of when you think to yourself, 'whats the point, you gotta have other things that drive you, right? right?!'

So when I came across Little Robyn like minutes after posting the two awesome tracks from yesterday, that exact sentiment resonated. I'm gonna warn you now, I am now a humongusive fan of Little Robyn, so here goes...

In a Kate Nash telling a story-sort-of-way but with greater vocal range and a sweet ukelele, Little Robyn takes you on a little spiritual journey with each of her tracks. A little feature of some stand-outs now follows.

Passion
Basically read the introduction to this post. Add some folksy ukelele. Then a big dollop of cutesy, soothing vocals and a dash of lyrical irony and this is what you get. A question of passion.

The Word Love Is Over-rated
The desperate hippy in me believes love is the answer to everything. And so the lyrics don't necessarily hit the heart to me. But I like the story told. And I think I am a little addicted with how pain is expressed is so sweetly. Like a nervous feeling of feeling happy at Little Robyn's pain. The German's have a word for this - schadenfreude I believe.

Jealousy
Its the ahem and then the mouth organ that gets me. And I feel like I repeat myself when I then fall for the ukelele and those whispy/honeysuckle/floaty vocals. Not fully sure if I even understand all the lyrics, but at 1.10 'to me' resonating a few times with that combo of folksy instrumentals just knocks me dead.

Crazy
If I was allowed to have a wildcard choice it would be this cover of Crazy. Recorded live and probably on a phone or something, this is all about the vocals. The imperfections of recording just add to the atmosphere. I am seriously looking forward to seeing Little Robyn live!

Wait, I Wish I Could Tell You

The sun makes me lazy. And even though I have Ofsted in the building and I'm four weeks behind my course and have 740 unopened emails I feel lazy. And kinda happy. And I'm still grinding and getting on with it. Despite my laziness, I'm eager to atone for my inactivity in May and hope to laud you with loads of music in the coming days...

Misty Miller - Wait
Misty tells us about waiting and hating and makes it sound lazy and loving. Hazy and warm. Back in 1974.

Magic moment at 2.03 and those lazy vocals for a short time reach out and melt our hearts. Beautiful summer pop track

Wait. Misty Miller.

Chloe Howl - I Wish I Could Tell You
Normally Chloe does a bit more uptempo beaty pop. This is kinda like a soul pop some-sort-of-gaze song. Sweet. Painful. Lazy. Beautiful.

Era Defining

Mixed bag of emotions. One book closed. Another opened. I have been distracted the last month. I apologise. Saying goodbye is hard sometimes.

Trying to somehow rescue some sort of face, I have a few treats for you today.

Still Parade - Actors
I know hardly anything about this band but this track, released last week has been emailed to me from at least twenty people. Its worth all the hype. Press play and forget about everything.

Swim Deep - King City

My youngest sister got married last week. I have found myself remeniscing an awful lot the past few days. Good times and bad. Sad times and ecstatic times. The opening 40 seconds of this latest release sums up all that emotion perfectly. Self inflicting and analytical, this is right up my street. 'I wanna be everything I'm not....and...f**k your romance' - my life is far removed from such lyrics, but every now and then, I like to feel. And this is music to feel to.

 

Indiana

The sun is shining. I finally got this ridiculous deadline off my back.

Flowers and paint.
Birthday surprises.

And looking forward to going home to the spring sun. Looking forward to the days coming up. A little rush of adrenaline. A little bit of nerves.

A sense of epicness. And still a little rough around the edges. Welcome Indiana The Girl of Nottingham. She says 'I wanna hurt you just for fun'. That thought makes me smile a little.

A phat baseline and an infectious voice - this is Smoking Gun

And a completely different vibe to Animal. With a long drawn out semi silent intro and a lazy bassline and vocals that are a cross between Everything But The Girl and Kate Nash, Indiana flickers her brilliance in a doom electronica hype - 'Father's hold their daughters, I will hold myself instead'. My street. Yeah. Up it.