The track is one of my favourites from her album, 'The Family Jewels' and I kinda dig the pastel palette and comic book aesthetic in the video:
The song is one of the few that wasn't doing the rounds aeons before the album's release so hopefully it'll have a bit more impact than the largely ignored 'I Am Not A Robot' re-release.
Here's a few free remixes of the track, should you be in the market for a re-swizz or three. The David's Lyre one is my favourite.
Also, any Dublin-based folk should be sure to subscribe to weekly arts bulletin Le Cool Dublin to keep tabs on the best gigs/exhibitions/plays/festivals happening in the city.
This gorgeous video for FM Belfast's rather brilliant 'Underwear' has been doing the rounds for a couple of months apparently but I only happened upon it a few days ago, thanks to Lucia.
It's a shame that their album, 'How To Make Friends', hasn't made more of an impact in these parts after finally being granted a release here. 'U' is for under-rated.
I've also just discovered Brynjar's bleepy remix of the track. Yum.
In much the same way that Pogo has carved a career out of artfully chopping up children's films to produce psychedelic soundscapes, DJ Earworm has become successful by courtesy of his uncanny knack for 'mashing-up' chart pop songs.
As much as I dislike various components of his latest mash-up, 'Like OMG Baby', I can't help but concede that the overall effect is pretty special:
DJ Earworm has also produced mash-ups of America's Billboard Chart's top 25 artists for each of the past three years:
I'll admit to being a fairweather fan of Suzanne Vega. I went through a period of being obsessed with her song 'Luka' when I was in secondary school but, being penniless and having no access to illegal downloads at the time, never got around to investing in her albums.
So, after founding myself surrounded by hardcore devotees in Dublin's The Village, I begin to suspect that my cover will be blown and my 'casual fan' status exposed. To make matters worse, when the incredibly youthful-looking 50-year-old singer takes to the stage, she opens with 'Marlene On The Wall' - one of the three songs in her repertoire that I'm familiar enough with to sing along to.
Thankfully, Ms. Vega proceeds to serve up a set of songs that it's not necessary to be acquainted with to appreciate. For the first half of the night, she plays a selection of songs from her current compilation 'Close Up Vol. 1: Love Songs', which, as the name suggests, is made up of love songs from her back-catalogue.
After the interval (yes, Suzanne Vega comes with an interval), the songstress returns and plays a more varied selection of numbers, including 'New York Is A Woman' (not a lady, she assures us) and 'Pornographer's Dream' (which, apparently is a librarian).
Vega's voice is truly a force to be reckoned with, sounding just as crisp and tuneful in a live setting as it does on record. She seems appreciative of her success, engaging in witty banter throughout the evening and giving some back-information on each song (perhaps for my benefit?)
For the encore, she plays her two signature tunes, 'Luka' and 'Tom's Diner' and allows the audience to choose the closing numbers ('Calypso' is received particularly emphatically). Having arrived a 'fairweather fan', I leave The Village in a haze of good humour, feeling decidedly fanatical.
Anyone who's been following this blog for the past two years (hiya mam!) will probably know two things: I like music and I like Scotland. As such, I'm beside myself with excitement about the prospect of heading to T in the Park in a couple of weeks' time.
The festival takes place in a disused airfield in Belado, Scotland and takes its name from its main sponsor, lager company Tennents, who've recently started distributing in Ireland. It's on the same weekend as Oxegen and, so, has the same awesome line-up but (one hopes) considerably fewer drunk leaving cert students.
The festival's 85,000 tickets sold out in 90 minutes when they went on sale in February but you win VIP passes over on the Tennents website.
Eimear and I are heading over on our own so, if you're going and fancy being out mate, send me an e-mail. I plan on doing a more in-depth look at the line-up before I head for the highlands but, for now, ogle this:
After the video for Sky Ferreira's rather excellent '17' materialised, I assumed it was going to be her first single. Not so.
It seems the first official release from her forthcoming debut album will in fact be 'One'.
An understated mid-tempo electropop number that's certainly a change of pace from '17', the track bears the hallmarks of its producers Bloodshy & Avant.
I'm convinced that Sky is destined to make a major impression but, honestly, I don't think this track is 'commercial' enough to be the one that sets her up for the big time. Even so, it's made me even more eager to hear the album and what else she's cooked up with the saliva-inducing array of producers she's worked with.
With her distinctive tailored suits, a swagger she's gleaned from Outkast's Big Boi and a gravity-defying quiff, Monáe certainly makes a memorable first impression but it's her earth-shatteringly soulful voice that sets her apart from the slew of overstyled wannabes that have been vying for our attention in the post-Gaga era.
Her album, entitled 'The Arch-Android', draws on elements of science-fiction and afrofuturism to tell the story of messianic android, Cindy Mayweather. Standing at a hefty 18-tracks, divided into 'two suites', the album is a sprawling opus that incorporates funk, rap, r'n'b, rock, folk and disco but, despite this, is remarkably cohesive.
The sequencing of the album is crucial and the tracks blend into each other almost seamlessly (in particular, the opening triplet of 'Dance or Die'/'Faster'/'Locked Inside'). The lyrics are intelligent and poetic, the arrangements imaginative and the whole project is anchored by Monáe's chameleon-like vocals.
I don't think there's anything here that will conquer the charts in the same way that 'Poker Face' or 'Paparazzi' managed, but 'The Arch Android' is far more accomplished and more faithful to its ambitious 'vision' than The Fame.
It's not released here 'til July but has been streaming on her Myspace the past few days. I suggest you familiarise yourself with it.
Rating: ★★★★★
And if you're not sold by my endorsement, check her out in action on the Dave Letterman show in her 'network television debut':
The Hundred in the Hands took almost eighteen months to follow up their devastatingly brilliant track 'Dressed In Dresden' and, judging by the sound of their new material, have been on quite a sonic journey in the interim.
This new slightly-psychedelic track, Tom Tom, from their This Desert EP, sounds like it was produced by a different band entirely but certainly has its charms.
Among my back-log of e-mails was a message from one of the the video producers behind Watch Listen Tell, an independent music channel that features up-and-coming bands.
As timing would have it, I managed to log on to their channel a few hours after they'd uploaded this gorgeous video of Villagers' Conor O' Brien performing an acoustic rendition current single 'Becoming a Jackal', from their critically acclaimed album of the same name:
Also worth checking out is this video of Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club performing a stripped-down version of their recent single 'Something Good Can Work':
With a strikingly deep voice that's somewhat at odds with his gender-bending appearance, Canadian singer Diamond Rings certainly commands attention.
Crafting music with "a stolen midi keyboard, stolen laptop and second-hand guitar", John O manages to produce an arsenal of songs every bit as interesting as his flamboyant appearance.
His latest effort 'Show Me Your Stuff', streaming exclusively at Pitchfork, is probably my favourite of his tracks so far but I also love 'Wait and See' and 'All Yr Songs':
I stumbled across Australian outfit Teenagersintokyo a few months ago and took quite a shine to their single, 'Peter Pan'. So, when I heard they were playing No Disko at Dublin's Crawdaddy, I figured I might as well head along and investigate further.
I managed to catch the tail-end of support act Spies' set and, having been majorly impressed by what I saw of the Dublin-based five-piece, was left cursing my tardiness.
As seems to be customary at No Disko, the headline act swiftly took to the stage after Spies and began setting up their own equipment. Half an hour later they return and launch into the title track from their new album, 'Sacrifice'.
A sparse slow-burning number, imbued with a slight sense of forboding, it serves as an adequate introduction to the considerable vocal talent frontwoman Samantha Lim. Dresssed in a string top what my limited fashion-related lexicon can only describe as a leather hula skirt, Lim immediately commands the moderate-sized crowd's attention as she prowls the stage and pouts theatrically.
The band then up the pace, playing their two most recognisable tunes 'Peter Pan' and 'End It Tonight' before a spiky cover of Halle and Oates' 'Maneater'. Delivering an intoxicating combination of serrated guitar riffs and murky synths, while Lim alternating between seductive purring and riot grrrl howls, it's soon apparent that Teenagersintokyo are a cut above the dearth of posturing indie outfits trying to catch a break.
From here on in, it's plain sailing as the crowd, presumably largely unfamiliar with the material, lap it up. After a relatively short set, the band bid us goodnight but, moments later, they return to the stage in response to repeated calls for 'one more choon'.
I've recently seen old favourites Marina & the Diamonds and Florence & the Machine play Dublin dates and, although I acknowledge that both acts delivered the slickest performances I've seen from them to date, I couldn't help but mourn the slightly rough-around-the edges quality and humble appreciation of the crowd reaction I'd seen from these artists in their earlier gigs.
Teenagersintokyo may follow the same trajectory but, for now, they're at that point in their evolution where they haven't quite of just how good they are and appreciate the whoops and applause that bit more than those artists who've 'made it', which is lovely to behold.
"This is our first ever encore..." Lim tells us, barely containing her glee. First, maybe, but certainly not the last.
Marina and the Diamonds has served up probably her most conventional video to date for her latest single, 'Oh No!'.
