Now then Kids.

A few bits and bobs, first a little heads up of a great show I went to/worked t'other night, a girl pop extravaganza that was Chirlift with support from Rose Elinor Dougall. Currently featured on the iPod Nano adverts and consequently receiving beaucoup d'airplay, Chairlift are from the New York electro indie school but have luckily set themselves apart from MGMT, despite the easy/wrong links that people insist on mentioning. Chairlift write much darker, solid and determined songs that warm your toes and permeate your mind, most notably on that iPod song, Bruises. It's cute call and response between lead singer Caroline and keys player Aaron highlight the simplicity of Chairlifts songwriting in the best possible way, the wonderfully delicate chorus is one you won't forget in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Rose ELinor Dougall, formerly of The Pipettes lit up the stage earlier with an breathtaking voice and stellar songs to boot. Sounding familiar to Florence Welch with a cuter melodic tone and plenty of beautiful harmonies, Rose Elinor Dougall has another bright musical future ahead of her. Her debut single is released soon, 8th December if I remember correctly so be sure to check it out.

www.myspace.com/roseelinordougall

Also, some very exciting news for myself, Im close to putting on my own shows by some incredible bands that I've got to keep hush hush for the moment but news will come as soon as it's all confirmed. Also, Simian Mobile Disco are playing at Koko in February if anyone is interested in accompanying me? Their performance at Reading this year was perhaps the highlight of the festival for me so I'm desperate to witness them all over again. Let me know.

Feeling v tired and run down so gonna end it here for the moment, I'll be back soon and hopefully with a more constructive post!

ttfn

Absolutely bloody marvellous. The Bible. In Lego. Love it. Who says religion isn't contemporary?

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

I dont really know what to say anymore. Nightmare

http://www.nme.com/news/leonard-cohen/41280

I doubt you even have anyone to go to bed to. Or do you just sleep holding a picture of Steve?

35 shopping days left people...

Following an interesting conversation I had the other day about the merits of X Factor with Lauren, the argument that the notion of a credible Christmas number one has disappeared and I said that it was now the race for Christmas number two. One of the quintessential parts of Christmas and the music industry has been killed by reality TV shows automatically claiming that most elusive of spots, no matter the quality of the singer or song. So I thought it would be interesting to investigate the history of the Christmas number one since the conception of X Factor and the songs that have failed where they maybe should’ve succeeded.

So here we go, last year we had at number one –
Leon Jackson – When You Believe. The Winner of X Factor 2007 was Leon Jackson and his number one was a cover of Mariah Carey and Witney Houston’s collaboration on When You Believe. The song was released for download from midnight after the show and the physical version of the single was rush released on 19th December, in time to make Christmas number one. It was the 4th fastest selling single of 2007 with sales of over 275,000

In second place we had –
Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love. First reaching number one on 28th October of that year and stealing the number one spot until 16th December of that year, a massive seven weeks in a row, Leona would have gained her second Christmas number one in a row if it were not for the highly forgettable Leon Jackson. This of course neatly leads us on to...

2006 Christmas Number One
Leona Lewis – Moment Like This. The deserved winner of X Factor who’s actually gone on to do rather well for herself, Leona Lewis stormed the charts and the nation’s hearts with her single Moment Like This, selling an astonishing 571,253 copies in one week. Impressive.

Trailing behind was –
Take That – Patience. One of Britain’s greatest pop exports (arguably), Take That gained the Christmas number two spot after being at Number One for the previous four weeks with their comeback single. Interestingly Leona Lewis sold 700,069 copies in 2 weeks with Take That selling 282,423 in 6 weeks, make of that what you will.

2005 Christmas Number One
Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal. X Factor’s first Christmas number one was provided by Shayne Ward with a week’s worth of sales totalling 742,180.

Second place was awarded to
Nizlopi – JCB Song. The wonderfully cute animated video was accompanied by a catchy tune with a beautifully delicate theme. Intentionally released before X Factor to gain number one status, JCB Song was the song that should’ve been for 2005. Loved by young and old, it stood no chance as the X Factor train gained momentum. Just so you know, JCB Song sold 81,660 copies the week it went to number one so never stood a chance.


2004 was the first year of X Factor and the only so far that did not produce a Christmas number one. Hardly suprising when you hear why. Christmas number one that year rightly went to
Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It’s Christmas. Featuring an astounding array of Artists from Thom Yorke, Sir Paul McCartney, Justin Hawkins and Robbie Williams, the song was at number one for 4 weeks in a row, amassing total sales of 2,094,000.

And just so you know, Christmas number two that year was X Factor winner Steve Brookstein with his cover of Against All Odds. Which the week later knocked Band Aid off the number one spot, something I’m sure he’s proud of as he now (no joke) is the entertainer on P&O’s cruises between Portsmouth and Portugal. Nice.


Also, just so you don’t think this is a recent thing, 2002’s Christmas number one was the winner of Popstars: The Rivals were a boy band and Girl Band were formed with the sole intention of reaching Christmas Number One. Luckily, they formed a pop behemoth in the form of Girls Aloud and the Christmas number one that year was Sound of the Underground so it’s not the end of the world!

So we have four years of X Factor behind us and three Christmas number one’s to forget about. Despite its relevant infancy, X Factor has dominated those Christmas sales and it’s fascinating that only one thing can encourage people to go and buy singles anymore and that is Reality TV. How many people do you think ripped that CD and put it straight on their iPod? Would the charts have read the same if downloads were not included in chart positions for all of those years? These are all of course hypothetical questions but before X Factor, there were stellar pop tracks such as Gary Jules cover of Mad World, Bob the Builder and Can We Fix It? and the playful duet between Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman singing Something Stupid, all reaching Christmas number one. True these tracks are gimmicky and cheesy but they were fun and put up a fight for the Christmas number one, not written in the knowledge they would become Christmas number one like the X Factor songs are.

So my complaint is this. Can all these incredible songwriters and musicians please write a song that is going to compete with an X Factor penned single? As bookies are now taking bets on Christmas number two as the number one spot is seemingly predetermined, I would love a pop gem to appear and capture our nation’s fickle hearts once more, able to encourage consumers to overturn the tirany of X Factor. Come on people, rise up! In the words of Bob the Builder, “Can we fix it? Yes we can”.

Lykke Li - Knocked Up

No, she's not pregnant (see what I did there, funny.), Lykke Li has taken on the epic Kings of Leon track Knocked Up with a ridiculous amount of success. It's not a cover, it's not a remix, there are parts of her singing, parts of Caleb singing, even the two of them simultaneously. It maintains all the essential parts of the original with it's bass heavy, and catchy little epic ditty but with Li's sweeter, more delicate voice and an infusion of random bleeps and lo-fi production all over the show, the cover brings a whole new level to the song that will hopefully continue to lift her status and bring her to even wider recognition.
It will be the featured B Side to Kings upcoming single Use Somebody and will be released on December 8th. I simply cannot wait to get my hands on this but for the moment, you can only hear it through Listen Again on BBC iPlayer. Many thanks to Pete for giving me the heads up on this, follow this link and skip to 1hr45. And please, take the time to listent o this if you've heard the original, it is simply stunning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fhmcz

I've bought into this whole internet video craze way too late but this is another amusing one, hold on to the end, it's worth it

Fast & Furious-Hamsters

Well aren't I treating you? More videos, more funny stories, it's all good. For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you'll remember me alerting you to the shenanigans of Improv Everywhere, a kind of performance art troupe operating out of NYC. Well, I'm attempting to recreat some of their stunts here with the students at work and have been trawling thier past missions to find the ones that would be most suitable and the least offensive. It has meant that I've stumbled across some rather amusing things though so have a little read of this.

A man finds some rather rude graffiti about a woman on a wall in Ottawa. He decides to look her up on Facebook and deliver the bad news.

Also, check out the baby pumping up a crowd. It's completely unstaged and quite a short video but a bit of a giggle.

Oh, and if you're stuck for christmas presents for your parents or me, check this out. I want it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110312162347

It's Friday which is fast becoming my favourite day of the week. I don't think you truly appreciate the weekend until you work all week, at Uni it's just the two days when the shops are either busier or annoyingly shut early but now it signifies the two days where work escapes my attention, just for the moment anyway. And as our office was a desperately sombre mood this morning after a hectic event last night, I was chilling out with the incredible Portishead. So today I'll show you some cool little vidoes of Portishead and most importantly, the haunting voice of Beth Gibbons.

Portishead performing the first track, Mysterons, from their incredible debut

Right, before we go any further, this is by no means a new song, a new cover or any sort of revelation at all. But it is a haunting song. A song drenched in heartache. Inward reflection. Pessimism. It is an iconic track that will stand head and shoulders above others for all eternity. So take a minute to read the lyrics and put yourself in that mindset that we've all been in. Play Jose Gonzalez's cover that commands your attention and pulls all the right heartstrings. Then show some love for the wonder that is Love Will Tear Us Apart.

When routine bites hard,

And ambitions are low.

And resentment rides high,

But emotions won't grow.

And we're changing our ways,

Taking different roads.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Why is the bedroom so cold?

Turned away on your side.

Is my timing that flawed?

Our respect run so dry?

Yet there's still this appeal,

That we've kept through our lives.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Do you cry out in your sleep?

All my failings exposed...

Gets a taste in my mouth

As desperation takes hold.

Why is it something so good

Just can't function no more?

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Love, love will tear us apart again.

Love, love will tear up apart again.

Dedication's what you need

Red Snapper - A Pale Blue Dot

You know what, I don't talk about music a lot on this anymore and it saddens me. For a very quick rundown of what I've been up to musically, I'm DJing at my favourite club again so the discovery of new music has been put on the back burner for the moment as I compile another set. And before that, I've been listening to Bloc Party. And a bit of this, a bit of that, nothing new that's grabbed my attention really since the stunner that is James Yuill's album.

But I heard this today and it grabbed me. And the worst part is, I haven't heard the album yet but I'm putting this out there now before I forget and while the incredible song I heard is still ringing in my ears. It's by a band called Red Snapper and is an instrumental piece of genius. As always, I tend to stick to things I like and no secret has been made of my lvoe for instrumental music, be it Mogwai, Explosions or Sigur Ros who despite having vocals, dont actually make any sense so it's still instrumental to me. So it should be no suprise that Red Snapper are of course, instrumental.

The song that has grabbed my attention is the spectacular Brickred. Red Snapper are a jazz/trip hop/electronic fusion tye of band, like many many others out there. But thankfully, this is just a simple framework in which they build a variety of songs around, veering wildly from jungle to psychedelic folk in an instant, with a Sax as the pilot. As all instrumental music should do, it takes you on a journey. It is about creating a theme and developing it, moving it somewhere, to a logical conclusion. I've actually been planning to do a little review of my favourite instrumental tunes as it's easy to lumber so many bands under such a small umbrella. But in the meantime, check out their most played tune on last.fm which is Don't Go Nowhere. I assume it's very good.

I honestly wish I could tell you more but I haven't heard anything else and I don't want to make any judgements until I've heard their new album but. I was excited by what I heard and I'm eagerly awaiting hearing the album.

And I'm going to try a lot harder with this blog so don't worry, things will improve...

Admittedly this is again, not a music post, but a political one. In fact, this blog is becoming increasingly less musical and more about drawing your attention to things that irritate me. But i'm in an irritable mood recently, for one reason or another and quite often, a lot of reasons all at once. It has been a rough couple of weeks that have unnerved me, made me feel uncertain about a lot of things and made me itching to move on.
It was a truly inspirational evening last night, to witness the power of democracy working so strongly to change what is seen as an evil empire into a strong, prosperous and well intentioned powerhouse. The America that was promised decades ago, a land of opportunity, one that facilitates the American Dream, is potentially on it's way.

So how outrageous, sad and downright dispicable is it of our politicians to say that they have the most in common with Obama. This is not fighting to win our election next year on issues that affect us, to win our popularity with their own actions but through riding on the coattails of a great American politician. Now last time I voted, I will admit to being slighlty uninformed about what we were voting for. That assembly in the hall where each contestant just spoke about top up fees as that was clearly the most important thing to us, the fees that we didn't have to pay anyway. We did not pay attention to tax bands for the lower and middle classes that are now important to me. I was oblivious to TV licence fees, who was in the cabinet and their european views as I was more worried about liking my flatmates in halls. But we were young, naive and that is a forgiveable crime.

I understand that by associating themselves with the President-elect now, when it comes to crunch time next year the link will be strong and it should be easier for Mr Brown to become re-elected. But I honestly hope that our vote next year will not involve the media circus that America's does, that it will not use America as a template for our rescue by emulating their campaign. All I know is that having taken such an interest in the American elections this year, as most of the world has, I will be entering ours next year with a great degree of foresight and will not appreciate copy tactics by either side.

I know I'm ranting so consider this rant over.

So today the results are out, the ones the world has been waiting for with baited breath. Everybody thought they knew who would win but I don't think ANYBODY saw this coming. That's right, the NME Cool List results are in! Yeah, who gives a fuck, certainly not me. A list of people that are cool? I thought it was cool to not be cool? At least that's the mantra I've lived my life by, hence my effortlessness appearance and love of trashy pop. Why am I not on the cool list you may ask? Because I am so uncool, that I'm too cool to be on the list and am therefore not cool again. Honestly, the cool list makes about as much sense as that.

Don't get me wrong, Crystal Castles are a great band, Alex Turner is cool and fair play to Jay-Z I guess, but to me this reads liek a lsit of the frontmen and women of NME's new favourite bands and that's about it. Nobody genuinely cool, like Tom Waits for returning to the live scene in such style. Or James Ford for his incredible work with Klaxons, SMD and every other band worth chatting about. There were always going to be obvious ommisions but really.

So as we draw ever closer to a vote that does actually mean something, browse the list of who's cool this year and find your new favourite haircut/jeans/eye shadow colour.