Soopsworld 2.0: Volume Three/Rihanna/Kate Bush/X Factor

Soopsworld 2.0 Volume Three

Another week, another collection of songs in the form of Soopsworld 2.0: Volume Three. It starts of fairly synthy then ends up in a succession of female solo artists. Boom, etc.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I wasn’t really in the mood for either Kate Bush or Rihanna (both had stuff out this week) but I got round to listening to both and well, Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow was a particularly pleasant soundtrack to a sunny, crisp morning pottering about getting stuff sorted… I don’t know how I can elaborate, really, it’s very Kate Bush and if you like her then you’ll probably like it. 

Rihanna, on the other hand… Facebook friends may have seen the article on Lana Del Rey I posted that discusses the somewhat jaded, bordering on sinister tone of ‘Video Games’s lyrics. Inevitably it brought Rihanna to mind, Rihanna – Talk That Talk to me sounds like a woman on her back that is so bored she can’t even be bothered to fake it. Sure, there are songs on there that with the right remix I’m sure will feature at Christmas parties all over the land but for me, it sounds like both Rihanna and her producer/songwriters are going through the motions and writing/performing even more to a formula than normal. 

Which brings me to X Factor. Despite some people that class themselves as ‘musos’ turning their nose up at X Factor and snorting with derision at those of us that watch and even Tweet about it (hell, I even do ‘notes’ and post them on my Facebook wall but that’s admittedly more to do with my limited entertainment options at the moment), I still find it entertaining. And that’s sort of the point of X-Factor, it’s about entertainment more than music (and shifting units of course). Each year the contestants’ eyes get more crazed with the hunger for fame, the characters get more grotesque and cartoon-like – there are in-jokes and catchphrases like any old school variety show only the added pressure of viewing figures, maintaining profiles and selling records and stuff. X Factor on Twitter is the digital equivalent of the colosseum only instead of wrestling lions, the contestants perform karaoke in varying degrees of stylish costume depending on how nice they’ve been to the show’s stylists (allegedly). As my friend Rob pointed out to me during a ‘debate’, there has always been trash, with X Factor they’re actually releasing it and if you want to start dissing the whole X Factor contestants being products then well, you have to look at the whole bloody music business to an extent (in marketing not creative terms obvs) so let’s not go there.

 

N.B

My Twitter name is @soops77 if you want to join in taking the piss out of X Factor tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midweek Musical Meander: Robbers On High Street

Robbers On High Street – Hey There Golden Hair

 

LIke a good little social media person that actually listens to ‘statistical advice’ for once that the peak engagement time is Wednesday around about now (yes, that’s why your Facebook/Twitter feeds are heaving with matter, ah how funny it would be if that was nonsense…), I figured I’d pop a little something on the site. I looked at this weeks New Releases using my highly sophisticated methods (Amazon new releases pages & the rarely updated on time Spotify New Album Releases – cutting edge or what).

I’m not in the zone for the new Rihanna album (this zone requires lots of vodka and having robotics dance-offs on a sticky indie dancefloor with Fox and co) and I’m not in a Kate Bush sort of mood today (not wearing sufficient sleeves to wave around while expressing myself in the form of daaaance) so I mooched through my recent folders of albums on Spotify and found the Robbers On High Street album I mentioned the other week.

Out in September (so contraversially Not That New), ROHS have been likened to The Strokes (nope, not hearing that comparison), Spoon (errrm, no) in the past. I think a US Belle & Sebastian with slightly less sophisticated lyrics is more accurate in this album’s case… in a good way. More to the point it’s good midweek music in that it’s upbeat and has brass bits that will remind you of dancing round festivals off your face on scrumpy in your denim cut-offs and straw trilby or whatever. So if you’re staring at spreadsheets, losing the will to live – probably ideal, then. 

Soopsworld 2.0: Volume Two

Soopsworld 2.0 Volume Two

 

Eclectic mix of tracks? Check. ‘Guerilla’ artwork knocked out in 20 mins? Check. Shameless raiding of muso mates’ Spotify libraries? Check.

 

Another Friday, another playlist. This week as well collecting tracks here and there on my ongoing online treasure hunt as normal, I also raided DHY Creative‘s and Rollo Grady‘s Spotify playlists (again) as well as visited Drowned In Sound regularly. I trust their ears, so should you.

 

p.s

Yes that is the back garden in Somerset, I literally looked out of the window for my inspiration. Imagine what it’d have been if I was back in London?

 

 

 

CMJ Treasure Hunting & Minimalist Album Recommendations,

Hello.

Long time no see, etc  etc.  I’ll indulge myself in thinking you’ve all been waiting on the edge of your seats for the next Soopsworld music roundup… nah not really. I have been preoccupied with sorting Stuff out for most of the summer, though and it was good to step back from the hype cycle for a bit.

 I’m assuming you’re up to date on the treasures of the summer/early autumn but if not, here’s a large chunk of them in my first compilation Soopsworld 2.0 Volume One (yeah alright it’s a Spotify playlist but it’s curated with love by yours truly so it’s a compilation as far as I’m concerned. ‘Digital bundle’ is even less sexy than ‘compilation’ so let’s just leave it at that.).

I’m working on Volume Two as we speak needless to say but meanwhile, after wading through CMJ (Google it – it’s the one before SXSW basically) mixtapes and knowledgeable corners of the Internet to filter out treasure, here’s some highlights, cryptically titled CMJ Treasure. I was meant to be at CMJ this year and, thanks to Flatmageddon (flathunting in London HELL) it didn’t happen. Tragic. No really, I was properly gutted – couldn’t even look at the Twitter feed, it was awful. Thank goodness for the Internet quite frankly. CRASHING ON…

Oh before I get to the album recommendations, go buy your copy of the Alabama Shakes EP on Bandcamp before they go ENORMOUS, the A&Rs are having kittens over them and with good reason, they’re awesome.

Recommendations

.Thanks to Spotify and Facebook getting it on, I can now see what my lot are listening to. It was no surprise that M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. and I Break Horses – Hearts have been  on repeat since their releases, the same with Justice – Audio, Video, Disco.  

I don’t really do album reviews as regular readers will know, I prefer to recommend stuff in the fashion that a mate down the pub might or just give you the Spotify link so you can make your own mind up. So..

Lately I have listened to ; Kele – The Hunter (“alright, the cover art’s possibly more interesting than the tracks, though…”) Laura Veirs – Tumble Bee (“Twee as f**k, even the TITLE is twee – might as well have called it Now That’s What I Call Twee… ”), The Bandana Splits – Mister Sam Presents The Bandana Splits (“Retro girl group stylee yet you don’t feel the urge to stab things after a couple of tracks= win”), The Sound of Arrows – Voyage (“synthy but not sleep inducing”) Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials (“As expected”), Atlas Sound – Parallax (“Fuses influences seamlessly,  a grower to appreciate the subtleties upon multiple listens. A no-brainer for film/tv”), Firehorse – And So They Ran Faster… (“I liked their name, I admit it but the album’s rather lovely too actually”), Robbers On High Street – Hey There Golden Hair (“RING THE HOT FESTIVAL BAND KLAXON!”) araabMUZIK – Electronic Dream (“CMJ got all moist over him, probably worth a listen”) and finally David Lynch – Crazy Clown Time (“All you’d expect and better – bet Twin Peaks box set sales spike again”).

 

I won’t leave it as long to the next post, promise.

 

Oh and if you’re a music blogger and interested in taking part in a networking project, comment with your url below or email soopsworld@gmail.com as I might just have a cunning plan or two up my sleeve…

 

Soops x

 

Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Extraordinary, inspiring words from an extraordinary, inspiring man.

Ones To Watch: Craig Murray’s video for Warm Brains’ ‘Worried Seed’

While I figure what the hell I’m gonna do with this music blog (Ultimate Level of Pretention: My BLOG is Having An Identity Crisis, get a grip Soops FFS…) , check out this ACE video by Craig Murray for Warm Brains’ track ‘Worried Seed’

 

 

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Back soon

In the meantime, for more links to the freakin’ awesome, follow @soops77 on Twitter .

 

Soops

xx

 

Lately I have mostly been listening to…

Regular readers may have noticed it quiet on the the posting front. What can I say, I’ve been taking a break and contemplating my navel rather a lot – it happens to the best of us. What have I been listening to while doing all this contemplating? Well, I resisted the urge to wail along to Adele’s album (I might have danced round my flat and done appauling harmonies along to it a couple of times though, ahem) or bury myself in Miles Davis for hours because, well, things weren’t that bleak. I’ve been avoiding computers a bit ( I know = CONTRAVERSY), so I have been reexploring what I have got on cd at home as well as lashings of 6Music and night-time Radio 1 while I wait for Amazon to deliver my copy of the Hooray For Earth album. Three weeks, people = not impressed Soops.

Cults – Cults

One album I have been listening to increasingly is the Cults album, out at the end of last month (?). I’ve gone on about my love/hate relationship with hype and buzz-bands, ironically considering I ultimately contribute to that hype in my own little way. Cults are a prime example of this – if you’re like me, which I suspect you are, too much hype can turn you right off an artist sometimes – you just reckon it must be all hot air so you swerve them, occasionally getting into them at your own pace at a later date. Cults have had a LOT of hype, more than Sleigh Bells last year I reckon. I was pretty suspicious but happened to have a copy of the album from a friend so one day curiosity got the better of me and I was pleasantly surprised. You’ve probably read that it’s a summer record – well, it is and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It passed the ipod test (walking round London soundtracked by it was pretty pleasant actually), passed the having it on in the background while doing other stuff test. Oh and if you watch any interviews with them, only puppy/kitten slayers wouldn’t find them utterly charming.