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.

Another Tale From Another English Town

Yesterday was a real mixture of emotions.  A wedding, a funeral and some interesting conversations in between.  I've been neglecting a few things recently and I really need to, well, not.

If, like me you've traveled around the moors and fields of Britain a fair bit, you'll relate to the scene I'm about to set. Its a shame sometimes that we don't appreciate whats on our doorstep and look further afield for some sort of hedonism or escapism. I'm not just talking about the natural scenery and stuff, I'm on about stuff a bit deeper. I guess it's a case of what and how we appreciate things.  Anyway, I'm fairly sure I was supposed to be setting a scene.  I think I already have.  Well, not a scene, more of a tone. A tone of being able to appreciate what's at hand and not dreaming wistfully of a neverland or another life. Just being happy with what you have. Whether thats a beautiful scene, a nomadic approach to life, a content in the mundaneness of life or just being able to wonder at life and it's creation. I haven't posted some indie style indie stuff recently, have a listen to this beauty from Newcastle band Lanterns On The Lake - it's a real keeper, a real brilliant piece of bittersweet, and you will be babbling the same sort of stuff that I just did. Incoherent. But it makes sense. We don't want a fight, we want a quiet life.

Screenplay

I have been a bit distant I know, a little preoccupied but in a good place. Some good news, I cut my hair for the first time in 2013 after being hounded by so many people to do so. Some bad news, my old car packed in, so I bought a new one. The best news, whilst I've been away, some pretty hectic new music has been floating about, which I can hopefully start to share with you again regularly for the next week or so.

Right, now imagine you're a movie or TV exec and your job is pretty awesome in that you have to find the right music to fit certain parts of the film. Now, I reckon I would earn shit-loads doing this. Picture this: some sort of anti hero is finding out that somewhere along the line he has been misused, mistreated, manipulated. He visions flashbacks, when stuff suddenly seems to just add up, and on doing so, he feels a calling to get up and right some of those wrongs. But what or who does he turn to?..... I dunno, but this piece of music from the ever-so-awesome Bruised Skies would play to this screenplay beautifully.

Right, now not wanting to overkill on the screenplay thing, I'm gonna do the same for the second track for tonight. Cos it was fun doing the last one. This track is the first on FTSE's EP. Yes he has dropped an EP, so go scramble because it is pure brilliance and one that I was waiting for for ages. Here goes..

The camera pans to a guy lying on his bed with the sun peeking through in mid morning glory. He lies bare-chested and emotionless looking straight at the ceiling; he starts mouthing the lyrics. He turns to his left and sees an apparition of the beauty from the night before and suddenly at 55 seconds we are transported to a similar scene but in last night's said beauty's room. A few seconds of panning and she too mouths words emotionlessly. Again staring at the ceiling. And then she pulls out her battered Nokia 8210 and texts our macho bare chested dude to meet her for a coffee. At 2.15 we follow the pair individually to the coffee shop. Almost euphoric that they will embrace in some sort of romantic embrace.  But we're let down. At 2.33 the pair arrive at the coffee joint. They look through each other plainly, emotionlessly. And as the lyrics start to be heard again, they mouth at each other. No blinking. No smiling. No expression. Waiting.

Mi Amor

Things have taken a positive turn in the past 48 hours or so. Stuttering a bit. But getting there in the end. This weekend promises much and hopefully on the back of it, things will be much brighter.

If the sun comes out this weekend, you need to listen to this beautiful song Mi Amor by T.H.I.E.F.S. Ok I gotta admit, not a huge fan of the artist name, way too many full stops for my liking.  But if they are to act as some sort of hyperbole to the stuttering nature of the beat on this, then I would have to admit, I would be a smidgen impressed. Either way, this is definitely a weekend tune. A bit more housey than what I've had up recently, with some lazy vocals and heavily produced, almost masterful at  2.50 when everything just flows. It just works. And its glorious. Mi Amor.

Stay Forever

Take a fork. Smash it to your head. That's what this module in Political systems is doing to me. Liberalism, capitalism, marxism, neo classicism, post modernism - no idea where I fit within that spectrum. What's been making it the whole process a little easier has been this little gem from Catching Flies.

Following on from the 22 year old Londoner's highly impressive EP The Stars from late last year, a highly anticipated follow up EP is expected to drop within a week. Stay Forever kinda follows on from  the magical saxy jazzy sound of yesterday's post when at 2.55 a new sound is introduced. But Stay Forever is more than just that. Like an expression of space, sound, vocals and repetition, this song just lets you ease into a world of wonder...