Portsmouth

I had SUCH a good day today.
Life is good.

Fuck everything, don't worry

Just sit in the sun
Just talk shit
If you don't like it, don't talk it
If you don't wanna, don't do it.

GOOD KID.

SHEGOTSiCK

So I randomly went to some showcase thing in Portsmouth with Liz.
Her mate's band were playing, they were SHEGOTSiCK.

I was very impressed.
Really clever fusion of hardcore white-girl rap (impeccably pulled off, I might add) with some topical social commentary and decent vocal chorus and breaks.

Needless to say, they won the showcase.

Definitely want to see more of them.

CSS - Left Behind

Highlight so far from the new album.
Liking it, yes. But definitely not as instant as 'CSS'.
Let this not degrade the album though. It is still very good.



Baby you've got me thinking
'bout the place I left behind
A suitcase in Helsinky
Full of things I wanna set on fire (set on fire)

The thing is that you been lying
And no matter how hard I try
I won't be able to forget this
'cuz this is very deep inside

So im'a fly back to Helsinki
And even stay there for a while
Gonna get my things back
Gonna get some fun, gonna drink 'til I pass out

I'm gonna get on to the table,
And dance my ass off 'til I die
I'm gonna hopefully forget you
And quit those nightmares I've been having

Every night, everyday
It's the same so hard to explain
A million pounds wont be enough
To make me stare back at your face

Baby you've got me thinking
About the place I left behind
A suitcase in Helsinki
Full of things I wanna set on fire
Im gunna jump on to the table
And dance my ass off 'til I die
And I'm gonna hopefully forget you
And quit those nightmares I've been having

That's what I left behind.

The New Last.Fm

Is quite incredible.

I really like the way you can just dive into someone's library, and listen to full songs at random.
It's a shame some of it is pay-restricted due to label regulations...

But finding playlists of people's favourite songs (or at least their most played) is a really nice feature.

'WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG?!'
is one of those questions I always ask people, and they never have an answer to it, so I really like that I can find out for myself now.
Here's to a lot more personality-based judgements due to music choice!

More people should use this...

EDIT:
There's a feature that allows you to DOWNLOAD A PODCAST full of songs they recommend you tailored to your taste.
THAT is amazing.

Lewes Herriot

I don't know why I like these, really.
I think its the simple lines.
Or the 'blobby' impression all his characters have.

Done some work on album sleeves for Charlotte Hatherley and Johnny Foreginer before.

Stuff in colour is pretty extreme. Mayan almost, like something you would see on a temple, with the maze-like lines and the masks on the faces.
Good stuff.

Aly & AJ - Careful With Words

And so another 'best friend' bites the dust.
Good year for this sort of thing, clearly.
From this, we learn that sometimes it is best to
JUST HANG UP AND LET IT GO.


Please stop calling on my cell
I've got enough voice mails
Don't you get the picture?
I don't return your e-mails, IM or your text
Messages are getting boring fast
I try to be careful with my words

You're all over me, suffocating
I need to breathe, doorbell's ringing
CD you sent, won't stop singing
How's that for being careful with words
careful, careful

No more flowers at my door
I've started to ignore
The smell of moldy petals
I must confess you're desperate
To get my attention
Shoppers we are closing please go home
I try to be careful with my words

First I was flattered by
All the attention
I wanted to see where this would go
Then you got weird on me
Obsessed in the third degree
'til I was ready to explode

None of these words have been rehearsed
I don't think they can be reversed
Sadly it's only one-sided

Only a matter of time
before I have to confess what's on my mind
I told you would, didn't I

You're all over me, suffocating
I need to breathe, doorbell is ringing
CD you sent, won't stop singing
I was so careful I ran out of words

Head Automatica's 'Decadence'

A re-surfaced classic from the college days.
Strangely enough, never appreciated it more than 'Beating Heart Baby', but have most definitely re-discovered it now.
Was quite impressed with myself for remembering even the basics of some of the tracks, actually!

Some great social commentary on some of the tracks too;

'Hollywood at night, hanging around
If this is a must, then dying is a must right now'

and while we're at it...
Rock on James Faid. You keep dancing boy.

Paloma Faith

"I fly sometimes, sometimes I land with a thud. I am never what you think as I am multiple. Sometimes what isn't said is more powerful than what is. I hope to grow and surprise you with what you least expect but realise that predictability is not a negative thing. The mundane can be beautiful. So can the extraordinary."

I am astounded.
Unbelievably good.

Mamma Mia!

Was the gayest thing I have ever seen.
Highlights included:

- Piers Brosnan singing
- Meryl Streep
- The boob girl from 'Mean Girls' and her amazing tan
- Meryl Streep
- Gay Colin Firth
- Meryl Streep
- Colours!
- Meryl Streep

That was about it.
4/10.
9/10 if I was more drunk.

Led To Sea - Your Ghost

The support act for Laura Viers, who I saw at the library last night.
The MOST interested and contented I've been at a gig in a long time.
Perhaps because I had wine.
Also really made me want to play the piano again.
Even though she was playing the viola...



Your ghost held me in it's arms last night
I was not scared to feel it's cold breath
I did not shrink away from it's cold hands
It sang so sweetly in my ear

'Don't go, stay until we join you
in your gloom
Don't go
We'll join you soon'

I'll take you up into the sky
You'll find it's very cold up high
My love will keep you warm and dry
You know that all things here must die

It's true, one way or another
They'll with you, die, too
One way or another, too
Please, just go

We'll forget
Soon

You know that all things here must die?
You know that all things here will die?

'Zombies' by Joaquin Restrepo

Really like the stark use of bold red, and the blank, smudgy watercolouring he's used.
I'm no artist, but these are pretty bleak.

Found them on some website of a girl who wants to make an online zombie movie...

I want to be in it.

'Knocked Up' & Bright Eyes

What started off as something really carefree and typically comedic blossomed beautifully into a gorgeous film about an unconventional relationship, the reality of marriage, and wanting to do things the right way.

The moment I realised I liked this film so much was when this song was used.



'We are Nowhere and It's Now'

If you hate the taste of wine
Why do you drink it till you’re blind?
And if ya swear that there’s no truth and who cares
How come you say it, like you’re right?

Why are you scared to dream of God?
When it’s salvation that you want?
Ya see stars that are clear have been dead for years
But the idea just lives on.

In our wheels that roll around
As we move over the ground.
And all day it seems
We’ve been in between a past and future town.

And like ten minute dream in the passenger seat
While the world was flying by
I haven’t been gone very long
But it feels like a life time.

I’ve been sleeping so strange at night.
Side affects they don’t advertise.
I’ve been sleeping so strange,
With a head full of pesticide.

I’ve got no plans and too much time.
I feel too restless to unwind.
I’m always lost in thought as I walk a block
To my favorite, neon sign.

Where waitress looks concerned
But she never says a word.
Just turns the Jukebox on
And we hum along, and I smile
Back at her.

And my friend comes after work
When the feature starts to blur.
She says “These bars of filth with things that kill,
but now you probably should’ve learned”
Did you forget that yellow bird
Oh how could you forget your, yellow bird.

And she took a small silver reef and pined it onto me
And said “this one will probably bring you love.”
And I don’t know if its true,
but I keep it for good luck.

Jason Mraz - Details in the Fabric

I miss you, Simon Robb.
Whatever happens next, I hope you're happy.


calm down, deep breaths
and get yourself dressed instead
of running around and pulling on your threads and
breaking yourself up

if it's a broken part replace it
if it's a broken arm then brace it
if it's a broken heart then face it

and hold your own
know your name
go your own way
and everything will be fine

hang on, help is on the way
stay strong, I'm doing everything

are the details in the fabric?
are the things that make you panic?
are your thoughts results of static cling?
are the things that make you blow?
have no reason go on and scream
if your shocked, it's just the fault of faulty manufacturing

everything will be fine
everything in no time at all
everything

Hold your own
Know your name
go your own way

Hold your own
are the dretails in the fabric
Know your name
are the things that make you panic
Go your own way
are your thought results of static cling

are the details in the fabric?
are the things that make you panic?
is it mother natures sewing machine?

are there things that make you blow?
have no reason go on and scream
if your shocked it's just the fault of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
everything in no time at all
hearts will hold.

Brand New - Sowing Season

The first track to be leaked from 'The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me'.
Took a random re-listen for me to really appreciate how good this band actually are.



Was losing all my friends
Was losing them to drinking and to driving
Was losing all my friends and I got them back

I am on the mend
At least now I can say that I am trying
And I hope you will forget the things I still lack

Is it in you now?
To bare to hear the truths that you were spoken
Twisted up by knaves
In a trap for fools

Is it in you now?
To watch the things you gave your life to broken
You stoop and build them up with worn out tools

Nothing gets so bad
A whisper from your father couldn't fix it
Your whispers like a bridge, he's a river span

Take all that you have
And turn it into something you were missing
Somebody threw that brick
And shattered all your plans

Time to get the seeds and put them in the cold ground
It takes a while to grow anything
Before its coming to the end yeah

Before you put my body in the cold ground,
take some time to warm it with your hands
Before it's coming to an end

Do you miss the blend
Of colours she left in your black and white field
Do you feel condemned just being there?

I am not your friend
I am just a man who knows how it feels

I am not your friend
I am not your lover
I am not your family

Time to get the seeds and put them in the cold ground
It takes a while to grow anything
Before it's coming to the end.

Glastonbury's 'Trash City'

Although I'm definitely looking forward to Reading and V festivals this year which I am ACTUALLY attending, I can't help but be drawn to Glastonbury.

Trash City is a new area this year, designed with the intention of keeping the party going when the music has stopped. It includes a 'robotic zoo' and nightly 'cruiser parades'.

This is the British Festival Hollywood.

'Volume'

An orignal sculpture consisting of a luminous array of light and sound emitting columns.

Created in conjunction with Massive Attack for their 'Meltdown Festival', I saw the piece at the Southbank Centre, London.

The Tail End

When I'm lost and it seems the end,
like there's only certain death,

You tell me to live.

When dark clouds cover the sky,
like there's no hope, you are the light,

You tell me to live.

When I'm all by myself,
and I'm scared about my health,

You tell me to live.

And when you heal my broken wings,
yes, you heal my everything...

You tell me to live.

- Bryce Avery