Music I love

I haven't been up to much of late just ignoring how close it is before i go back to uni and the immanent deadline thats this monday- 800 words out of 2500- some work to do. Should really be in bed but as usual my surfing habits have got the better of me and then I was led to write this as i'm waiting to wash my mouth out from the mouthwash which the dentist gave me - 15 minutes seriously.
Anyhow during my surfing today i made this youtube playlist on my channel. It's a compliation of tunes that I really can't get out of my head.
1. Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp" Secretly Canadian
I saw this on MTV2 yesterday morning i immediatly wrote the name down on my hand in thick yellow feltip so when i had got access to the internet,then heard it on radio 1 on the journey to winchester. Reminds me of a more acoustic Late of the Pier with big drums - which you see in the video. What really stuck me was the nu-rave/surreal beauty with naked women runnning down brown canyon like hills, a black horseman , silvermirror macho men fighting and the singers face adorned on the skyline as liquid went down his face - definatly one of the best videos i've seen in a long while. Something cinematic without being too polished i.e. Lady Gaga.

2. The Good Natured - Warriors
I talked about this girl in another blog but i really can't say a badword about her. This is the first single that really struck me the brazen drum beat mixed with her lyrical poetry about alove story about love long distance. It might seem a bit Kate Nash but listen to the lyrics and the brilliant simplicity of the beat and you'll discover someone that deserves to be big in 2010

3. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets [High Quality]
Someone that has already got the accolade of Sound of 2010 is Ellie Goulding though this is the only song of hers that stuck with me i don't think it will be her year but this song which was released last year shows some real potential. Bringing together stamping syth and drum beats from the start with the added twinkle of a triangle making sure it caters for both indie and pop fans. Lets hope that her other singles have just as many hooks and pretty production.

4. Shiny Toy Guns - When Did the Storm begin? [FULL VERSIO
I've loved this band ever since i heard their cover of Stripped, orginally by Depeche Mode, putting the energy and SEX for a 00's take on an 80's classic. This song however is off their second album which for some reason i find impossible to download anywhere and even when i ordered it last year on hmv stocks ran out and there seems to be none since- due to this my only contact with the album is through youtube:( It a shame cus as many fans of The Shiny's know Carah Faye left and was replaced by a girlicious reject and its quite a transformation and a good one at that. The beats are bigger the hooks catcher and though I do miss Carahs's voice I couldn't see this record any other way. The problem still remains though that while the lyrics are good the repetition of lyrics seem to be the mask for awe inducing beats too good to get rid of and not enough lyric ability to produce any more meaningful writing. This is clear in this stand out track with the phrase 'Call my name Answer me where I stand' used as a chorus and counter to the rapping of Binary Finary , this is seen also in Ricochet their first single off the album. This song i feel just gets the emo electro power ballad to the tee brilliantly building up of guitar riffs, storms, weather reports and synth to successive choruses and then to the final explosive chorus which fades off into the next song.

5. Manic Street Preachers This Joke Sport Severed Patrick Wolf
A song/album celebrating the late/missing Manic Street Preachers member remixed b y Patrick Wolf - mess or absolute joy. Without a doubt this is my favourite remix ever it truelly plays with the song - not just giving it a stupid repetitive back beat as in the generic remix - but actually creates its own landscape. It maybe too experimental for some, with many broken beats and added bits of anything from violins to rewinded pieces of the original track. Built as a love song to the lost preacher it arouses the sentimental reflective and power which i think most remixs lack or care for.

6. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool: 'Dance The Way I Feel'
This has to be one of the best tunes to put on at an indie clubnight, you can just hear the depeche mode and pet shop boys influence updated with a funky tune that you literally want to dance the way you feel to. Supporting La Roux on her last tour Ou Est hopefully can make it big this year without such screeching vocals which often annoy after time- i mean La Roux surelly can't last much longer.

7. diana vickers jumping into rivers mp3
Quite a cute track from the 2008 XFactor finalist who who has that Dido voice and Imogen Heap melody behind her. Chilled and relaxing her debut single -not this one- coming out this year sometime lets hope it goes further then her ex-lover Eoghn Quigg's shameless attempt.

Happy Listening
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The Sugar Diet

Teeth operation day:
-Mouth still numb - put it like this if I tried to snog you my lips would go in any direction they wanted and you'd have a big pile of slobber on your face.
-My mum is making fish pie, it smells so good but i'll have to wait a few hours before i can sample her efforts.

Overall i'm feeling rather odd, my Mouth feels like i've got a lip transplant from Pete Burns

But i have this werid sense of optimism that somehow this year may finally completly turn my world to the better. Thats only if i don't give up - this comes an hour from the dentist saying you need to give up sugar otherwise you won't have any teeth left - scary stuff. So it really is make or break.

Just looked up if alcohol has much sugar in it. It doesn't but:
'the sugar content in most alcoholic drinks, including beer, can really damage your enamel. Some beverages, such as sweet wines or mixed drinks involving sodas or citrus juices, can be even worse, adding a high acidity to the equation.'
So no nice tasty alcoholic beverages for me then :( As well as this I need to look up every type of shot to make sure it doesn't contain sugars. Better get looking up

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And another thing...

I always take things to heart or almost always - almost like my imagination helps create paranoia. I really need to chill for a bit, not take things so seriously for frig sake smile and think positively. I know at least two of my friends where this situation is needed desperately i take things way too seriously things go over the top i get wound up and things get a bit messy.

I just hope I have the determination to do so
Scratch that
I know I can do this

I think maybe all these ideas and ideologies are going to my head leading me to go too preachy on them. I know no one likes a preacher least of all me

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Me and Jesus or Jesus and I

I have been thinking alot about what to do after university - which mostly means working in a pub/ dreaming of something creative to do in my spare time.

Today i had the idea of doing A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures by Chris Waitt style documentary about being the Messiah. As Christians believe in a second coming of Jesus and Jews are still waiting for their Messiah to turn up I wondered if these religion have procedures in practise just in case of such an event. As religion tends to be about this aim surely they have something to do when their saviour comes. Or How do you distinguish who really is the son of God? And How do that I am the Son of God or not?

After researching this subject over 20 minutes now i've become slightly annoyed with the preachy-ness -well durr they're gonna be - of the articles i'm reading and remembering the 'fear of God' that i've battled through after declaring i'm an atheist.

The thing is i was a Catholic at one point, went to a Roman Catholic primary and secondary school. Went to Church every Sunday and Sunday school from age 5 to 11. Prayed to God when I felt bad or wanted something. Hardly ever read the bible. I was given Confession, Communion and Confirmed.

The time I gave it up was when I went to see a Councilor and confessed to my nightmares of God and Satan fighting inside my bedroom. - was defiantly given too much cheese when I was growing up - He then told my Parents and I stopped going to church as much because I had an excuse - it was ruining my mental health - Now i'm not sure how true this statement actually is but I know I have a very strong Super Ego/Conscience which often guilt trips me into doing things I would rather not.

I'm looking at what I've written and realize how much religion has formed me and is a big part of my identity whether I like it or not. One things for sure I need to explore it.

So...Good Idea for a documentary Me and Jesus + how do you identify if you are Jesus or not. Interesting idea maybe slightly juvenile and comic in its naivity.

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Amazing Hangover

So yesterday was probably not the most productive day - as previously planned- but was extremely fun. After seeing 9 in the cinemas (slightly over indulgent- beautifully shot- not V catchy music- Hot Women even Sophia Loran and shes 80ish) we headed to our local and started on the cocktails, then to revolution after a long trek round snow infested empty slippery streets. Where we were given 6 free shots and free oranges and cherries (by this time they were much appreciated) talked to the bar man quite a bit. Then to Tantra where they didn't let in people with trainers on - snobs - their the ones with beds - barely dressed brothel. Followed by Cookie Club where i eventual after a few drinks danced matrix stylee (apparently). Fantiszied about performance work etc. The rest is a bit of a blur ( basically a better night than new years puke-athon)

Anyway...

I woke up this morning with a nice hangover one of those ones where i'm still slightly drunk - tipsy ish- and talk perfectly cus the alcohol has somehow helped connect some wires in my brain which usually have nothing to do with each other. This surge i often question with the idea of constantly being drunk to make my life a lot more interesting without me getting nervous and disrupting my 'perfect style of life'. But seeing this as a near impossibility and possible horror story for my body i sadly won't be living in the gutter. As well as this when walking round the park today i had the audacity to talk/ shout at strangers with varied questions we wanted answers to . Not such a good idea round towns me thinks as i think i would almost certainly get a confrontation and me skinny boy will not be able to handle that. So rather it would be living at the hospital rather than the gutter.
Another idea that this raises is that i thought hangovers were suppose to be hell on earth how come i sometimes get the flip side.

This little light i hope to hold onto gives me confidence a fractured state of possibility.

Bringing me to the confession I sort of love being hungover
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If i were an animal i'd be a Sloth

I'm so bored - not much to say - planned to do work today - just played on internet games - oh dear

Plan for tommorrow:
9:30 - Wake up - alarm clock + mobile = 5 alarms
10:30 - be ready to work
13:00 - lunch
16:00/18:45 go out to cinema watch nine
after: PARTY :)

x

Another resolution this time American :)

I was just on facebook - i know one of my resolutions is not to use the internet so excessively but i may have just found another resolution. -when a friend from america started talking to me on facebook chat. So we start talking and i remember that time i said 2 years ago that i would save up money from jobs in second year of university and hopefully go over to Maine to see her and the rest of them. This blatenly didn't go to plan i realised it cost a lot to live i.e. food bills alcohol etc.
So now in third year after university i plan to finally save up and go out there the thing is as well as this tyra (person i just talked to) is setting up plans to go back to England. It's pretty exciting, hopefully were going to catch up further on wednesday over skype can't wait :)
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Wheres Gummo?

I bought a film posters book of the 90's in a Portugal book fair and as i was flicking through this image struck me. You see I have this fascination with spectacle and striking images which distort, cause reaction or just seem slightly odd. This can sometimes lead me to venture onto the cinema and see some terrible films i.e. Van Helsing - bad choice OR Watchmen - one of the best films that i watched last year. So it is no surprise that this accordion playing rabbit headed boy in a toliet cubicle gives me a certain urge to see Gummo. The claim that its made by the creator of Kids is also an intriguing prospect, as that film was bought me as a christmas gift with the words 'it'll make you never want to have sex'. Though it was a powerful film i overcame my 'fear' of sex the following year but the overbearing message about AIDS is still there. Anyhow Gummo no matter how much i want to see it, its a hard film to try to find since i think its not in print in the UK.

This Christmas i got The Fall which is introduced by David Fincher (FIGHT CLUB)and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich). The trailer struck me as one of the most imaginative and visually stunning pieces of cinema i've ever seen.


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In Other News

I've just tasted my new mouthwash my dentist prescribed - not as bad as I thought it was gonna be, though I do have to keep it my my mouth for a whole minute then wait 15 minutes before i eat or drink anything weird but it seems to work :)

1st Book

Reading my first book of 2010 Theatre & Audience by Helen Freshwater.
At first this may seem possibly the dullest book to read but bare in mind i am a drama student, have an essay to do and there is some interesting references to experimental theatre.

One of which i am slightly obsessed over is Marina Abramovic's Rhythum O (Naples, 1974) performance:
As she stood passively beside the table, viewers turned her around, moved her limbs, stuck a thorny rose stem in her hand. By the third hour they had cut all her clothes from her body with razor blades and nicked bits of flesh from her neck. Later, someone put a loaded gun in her hand and pushed it nozzle against her head.
In this performance she stood emotiveless as the audience where presented a table of various objects which could give her pleasure or pain. They were given no instructions, only seventy two objects, Marina herself and six hours to do what they wanted. You may be pleased to hear that after the loaded gun was pointed towards her head another audience member pushed it away and put in on the table again.
Many people may call this woman mad but i believe the chaos and experimentation of theatre needs to be explored and she was just doing her 'job'. The audacity to let the audience/public do what they want with oneself is such a powerful act it is both liberating and oppressive, exciting and fearful. One act which could have led to her death is broken up by anothers interaction and possibly human compassion. I myself am quite confused with the idea of baring all on stage to this effect but if the audience can't interact or create ones own experience surely theatre is just someone ranting at you.

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The Good Natured

I have listened to this girl's music for over 2 years now, and i have to say she keeps getting better and better. Shes a minimalist electro girl with a eye for a beat and a intelligent lyricist. To compare her i would probably say Kate Nash is the nearest i can think of but without the fake cocker-ney accent (Sarah is definatly more articulate) and clumsy meaningless lyrics. Her style itself gives her absolute control over the overall sound building up the layers which can easily be seen in the difference between Warriors and the new song Red Skin . You clearly see the progression she has made as an artist and this is not to say her early work wasn't good but you can see her development of sound as well as the use of her new band.
Her latest effort is Red Skin which starts with a very drony vocal from sarah which seems almost a turn off but give it time to present itself and your'll surelly love the build up to the' i can't believe how good this is' chorus. It makes you appreciate each note perfectly played and mixed together till a europhic finale. It is the first song that features her new band and thank god shes had the time by herself to work musically so you can appreciate every note.The song itself seems to be about bearing yourself to your partner in a very self concious state but seriously hear the song on her myspace think it'll better explain it. If i were to rate it i would probably be 4 and a half stars because i know she'll progress and then that 5 star rating will be pointless.

It seems she is getting a bit of a following by the media first by the Guardian, ElectroQueer then NME its only time before she is on Radio 1 otherwise there is much injustice. Hopefully it might be her year this year. Surelly she can get a record deal.

"We can't wait to hear what she does next!"