6 Inspiring Things

1. YUCK

Yuck are part of what was Cajun Dance Party mixed with a few other musicians. So far they've only released home recorded demos for free on their blogspot.
They write beautiful, classy music, their song 'Automatic' is particularly lush. Their music is like nothing that's around at the moment, make sure you visit their blogspot and get downloading!

Here's some live footage of them:




2. 'Just Kids' by Patti Smith

I'd read some great reviews of this autobiography but didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, I read it in just 2 days, so basically, it occupied my life 2 days, I was completely hooked. Not only is the story of Patti Smith's life interesting but this book is perfectly written, from the structure, to the language used.
It also gives you a great incite as to what the New York art scene was like in the 60s and 70s



3.The New M.I.A. video- Born Free

This video is extremely powerful, deeply explicit and a brave move by M.I.A. It will mesmerize you. The song's sounding good too! Youtube won't let me embed it, but here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xD5xjahxac&feature=youtu.be


4. Oberhofer

This band is one of the most interesting bands that I've heard in the past few months, on paper they would be described as 'Bright, refreshing indie pop' but there's a lot more to it than that. There's whistling, some sort of organ snyth sound, a glockenspiel (?), distorted guitar and twinkly drums.
Here's their song 'Away from you'



5. The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen

I didn't know what to expect from this book as I didn't even know that Cohen had written literature until a few months ago. This book, as you would expect from such a poet is very beautifully written, it's brimming with imagery and metaphors yet, you never seem to really tire of them. It tells the story of a young man, 'Lawrence Breavman's' youth. Despite Cohen's dreamy, lyrical flow, this novel is very down to earth and a true, typical portrayal of a man's youth.



Flash a Hungry Smile by Mystery Jets

MJ are back and it seems they're stronger than ever, this song is a perfect summer indie pop anthem. Blaine's twisted lyrics are still present but the sinister undertones are a little more hidden but clearly still present. This song brings instant sunshine. Download it (legally) for free here.


Have a nice week!

Katie x

Kids Love Lies-Stars

This is their new single 'Stars' which will be released on the 1st June, it's lovely, here's the video:






Katie x

Smirnoff have teamed up with Simian Mobile Disco

Like Vodka and good music? Watch this Simian Mobile Disco video in association with Smirnoff:




Katie x

Lissie- Bad Romance

Here's the review that I did of it last week for Faux Magazine

I just want to quickly introduce you to something I heard for the first time the other day; one of the best covers that I have heard in a very long time. It’s a cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ by young American singer Lissie, who’s brilliant single ‘In Sleep’ is Single of the Week on iTunes at the moment. Lissie seems to sing the song the way that it was meant to be sung; she sheds light on the tender nature of the song and encapsulates the pain that Gaga covers up through flamboyant gimmicks and dancing. Unlike Gaga, Lissie showcases the frustration and monotony of being in a shoddy relationship through the aggressive strums of the slightly distorted guitar as well as some pretty frequent tempo changes. Perfect, perhaps even better than the original.






Katie x

The Dead Weather- Die by the Drop

Die by the Drop starts with twinkly drums and a quiet funk riff, these later on during the song will seem so out of place in comparison to the rest of the song. Then comes the hauntingly repetitive piano, the one note, repeated and repeated throughout the whole song, which still happens to actually work very effectively in creating this horror pop/rock montage that White and Mosshart blatantly set out to create. However, their pre- thought out aims for the song are obvious, yet, this doesn’t cheapen the song itself. The deathly distorted guitar riffs are finally introduced and the song gets going in true Dead Weather style. The mélange of Jack’s quirky vocals and Alison’s husky voice complements them.


“Let’s dig a hole in the sand, brother. A little grave we can fill together” Alison sings in her clean, husky voice that fits the entire concept of The Dead Weather so well. The entire song is full of a semantic field of gothic horror, “graves”, “death”, “salvation” and an air of destructive love.
The ever changing rhythm seems to have been set out to purposely confuse the listener, it still has a traditional verse/chorus structure but the changing rhythm adds flair and originality to the song.


In my opinion The Dead Weather are Jack White and Alison Mosshart at their best, it seems that they have finally obtained the formula to making fantastic music which is something that I honestly don’t think either of them had in The White Stripes, The Raconteurs or The Kills, it seemed that either their talents were withheld or just not fully developed, until now.


Katie x