Following on from my post about Neon Hitch and her endearing collection of covers comes a savvy mash-up of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' with Two Door Cinema Club's 'What You Know'.
“I am very very clever and first wrote about Ellie Goulding in the year 150BC, here.”
“Due to recently being named the BBC Sound of 2010 and winning a Brit Award, there was always going to be a lot of hype surrounding Ellie Goulding. The question is, though, has she lived up to the hype?!?!?!?!?!”. Cue disappointing review in which they will probably conclude that, no, she has not.
Honestly, few things annoy me more than bloggers repeatedly reminding you that they discovered an artist first but I don't think I could do justice to my experience at Ellie's debut Irish headliner without acknowledging the fact that I've been looking forward to seeing her for quite a long time.
And yes, I'll admit to being disappointed by her album, Lights, but as kDamo rightly points out, we've been listening to some of the album's better tracks for months and, if it had emerged fully-formed before the hype machine went into overdrive, we'd probably all be hailing it as a masterpiece.
So, after positioning myself up the front of The Academy well before Kildare band Planet Parade take to the stage and deliver a decidedly impressive set, I wait for Ms. Goulding to appear.
Armed with a guitar and cutting a slinky figure in a fitted black outfit, the singer takes to the stage with her bandmates and, with minimum fanfare, launches into 'Lights', an iTunes only bonus track I didn't realise existed until recently.
Ellie's vocal prowess is instantly apparent as she delivers a rousing, pitch-perfect rendition of the song, immediately following with sprightly numbers 'Everytime You Go' and 'Your Biggest Mistake'.
Although she's visibly overwhelmed by the emphatic reception she is greeted with and doesn't engage in much chit chat between songs, the singer barely puts a foot wrong musically as she works her way through the setlist.
A few songs in, she sets aside her guitar for 'This Love' and 'The Writer' but, just as it seems the set is beginning to sag under the weight of these slightly MOR numbers, she takes to the drums for 'Salt Skin' and elevates the set to a whole new stratosphere.
If there was any doubt over Ellie's superstar potential, it's obliterated at this moment as Ellie serves up the highlight of the night. Thrashing violently on a drum and cymbal while delivering a vocal performance that reveals the light and shade of her distinctive singing voice, Ellie displays a flair and striking originality that some of the album's weaker material doesn't showcase quite as well. It's plain sailing from here and Ellie sustains the momentum by swiftly launching into breakthrough single 'Under The Sheets'. She then exits the stage only to return moments later for an encore comprising a pared-down version of 'Wish I Stayed', a gorgeous cover of 'Roscoe' by Midlake and current smash 'Starry Eyed', which induces mild hysteria from some of the more 'enthusiastic' audience members.
Already, some have ranted about the gig while others have raved, but I'd be inclined to position myself somewhere in between. Ellie's talent is undeniable but, in terms of her live performances, a little inexperience definitely shows.
She needs to figure out how to engage with the audience a little more, so that people leave feeling more of a connection to her music. Presumably this sort of thing come with practice and I reckon, with a few more killer songs, Ellie Goulding has the potential to graduate to the big league. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets (Live at The Academy, Dublin)
Fresh from picking up her Critics' Choice Brit Award, Ellie Goulding has released this nifty little widget, with minute-long previews of tracks from her forthcoming album, 'Lights'.
You might notice that a number of the demos that were floating around have been radically re-jigged for the album, most notably 'Wish I Stayed' and 'Guns and Horses'.
I'm really looking forward to hearing these tracks performed live at her Dublin gig at The Academy on March 14th.
While I'm not especially taken with the dancers flanking Ms. Goulding throughout, I think the team behind her have done a great job at styling her and the glittery, magical aesthetic complements her music really well.
I particularly like the dramatic camera shudders and Ellie's impressive levitation skills.
The single is out 19th of February, rather shrewdly scheduled just days after she collects her Brit Award, when interest in her music is likely to be at an all-time high.
Incidentally, her performance of 'Starry Eyed' at the launch of the Brit Awards Nominations (full list of nominations here) was nothing short of, er, stellar.
I've already set my alarm clock to get up early on Saturday and book myself a ticket for Ellie Goulding's debut Irish headliner in The Academy on 14th of March.
It'll be interesting to see how quickly tickets for the gig are snapped up and whether topping all those 'tips for 2010' lists has translated into genuine interest in her music. I'm certainly not taking any chances anyway.
Meanwhile, some veryreliablesources have been suggesting that there are some life-changing remixes of Ellie's debut 'major label' single, 'Starry Eyed' in the pipeline.
In the meantime, we'll have to make to do with the brand new mix of 'Starry Eyed', with a new vocal and spruced up production, which will hopefully infiltrate radio station playlists galore in the coming weeks.
It comes as no major surprise that Brit Award Critics' Choice winner Ellie Goulding has topped the BBC's 'Sound of 2010' poll of music industry gurus in the UK.
Since being alerted to her considerable talents by The Guardian's 'New Band of the Day' writer Ellie Goulding last February, Eimear and I have been devoted fans and it's been fascinating to watch her ascent to the big league.
Until shortly before then, Ellie had been performing folksy songs on her guitar but, after boldly asking Frankmusik via Myspace to produce her songs, she wound up recording 'Wish I Stayed'.
Teaming Ellie's ethereal warbling with shimmering synths and spluttering beats, Frankmusik crafted something quite fresh-sounding that soon had bloggers getting all hot and bothered.
Ellie was still unsigned when Frankmusik introduced her to producer Fin Dow Smith (aka Starsmith) in January 2009 but, within days of meeting, the pair began recording tracks what were to form the basis of her solo album, which was completed earlier this week.
Here's hoping that Ellie copes with the hype and isn't as burdened by the 'Sound of 2010' tag as Little Boots seemed to be by the 'Sound of 2009' one. Her album is due out on the 1st of March but, in the meantime, expect to hear 'Starry Eyed' played A LOT.
Meanwhile, this dubstep remix by the utterly superb Jakwob might just be 2010's answer to Skream's 'Lets Get Ravey' remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill'. i.e. HUGE
As much as I enjoy the synthpop direction she's taken, I'd love to see a couple of these, in some shape or form, on her album when it's released in February.
When Little Boots toured the UK recently, her support was made up of the dream-team of Erik Hassle and Ellie Goulding. Rather tragically, it seems that neither act will be flanking Ms. Boots when she plays her debut Dublin headliner this Friday.
However, there is some consolation in the form of a joint cover by Ellie and Erik of Robyn's 'Be Mine!', presumably recorded while they were on the road together. Their acoustic rendition has been made a free download via Popjustice and you'd be well advised to click here and check it out.
Also worth a spin is 'Fighter Plane', the b-side to Ellie's current single 'Under The Sheets'. This one you'll have to pay for alas.
"Remixes are a gateway to new sounds." So says the lovely Platinum Jones, and I reckon he's not far wrong.
A few months back, Eimear introduced me to a rather excellent 'dub-step' remix of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' by English producer Jakwob.
Jakwob has now re-swizzed Goulding's latest single 'Under the Sheets' and the results, once more, are slightly brilliant. I realise taking a fancy to house/dub remixes of chart-pop doesn't qualify me as a hardcore electro fiend. All I know is that I can't get enough of Jakwob's tracks and remixes right now.
Ellie Goulding's music video for 'Under The Sheets' has surfaced and it's nothing short of brilliant. The video features some gorgeous cinematography and perfectly complements Ellie's brand of other-worldly alt-pop.
'Under The Sheets' is being released by Neon Gold and should lay some great foundations for her major-label release next year.
Nice wind machine usage. Download the 'Under The Sheets' mp3 for free from here.
I've wanted to post about rising star Sky Ferreira for a while but there's always been one fairly significant hurdle to overcome: the girl has no songs.
The 16-year-old model and singer from L.A. has had all manner of music industry elite fawning over her but the only chance the general public have had to hear what all the fuss is about has been a guest spot on The Shoes' remix of The Virgins' track 'Teen Lovers' (which essentially just involves some breathy counting on Sky's part...)
Although we'll have to wait another while to hear what she's been cooking up in the studio with superstar producers Bloodshy & Avant, a couple of slightly incredible cover versions have started to crop up online.
The tracks have been perfectly selected, the first being a cover of Miike Snow's indie-pop anthem 'Animal', completely pared back to just piano and Sky's staggeringly mature-sounding vocal:
I know, right? Amazing.
Next up is an interpretation of Ellie Goulding's 'Wish I Stayed', presumably recorded during one of her sessions with the song's writer Frankmusik. Using the same backing track, Sky's version isn't a drastic departure from the original but is a pretty stonking rendition nonetheless.
Sky Ferreira: coming to a 'Tips for 2010' feature near you.
The wonderful new Ellie Goulding single, 'Under The Sheets', was given its radio premiere a couple of days ago and has now materialised online in decent quality.
The single is being released by Neon Gold Records and, seemingly, we can expect to see 'Starry Eyed' as her first major-label release. The track was produced by Ellie's partner-in-crime Starsmith and, if you listen closely, you'll hear him on backing vocals.
Almost a year after the initial release of 'Sleepyhead' by Passion Pit, re-interpretations of the track continue to surface.
The latest version comes fromGoldsmith, AKA singer Ellie Goulding and producer Starsmith. Both collectively and individually, the pair have gone from strength to strength since I first fell for their work back in January and their midas touch certainly hasn't failed them on this occasion. This track sees Starsmith making his first appearance on backing vocals and you can hear the results here.
Also great is the version by alt-pop purveyors, The Mummers. This borrows samples from the original track, teaming them with funky brass backing and new lyrics. The lovely Matt from Stay Loose has given me permission to share the track.
Finally, Run Toto Run's mandolin-and-fiddle-driven cover, which I've previously mentioned, remains great. This seems to have gained the band more attention than any of their own great tunes but hopefully they can capitalise on the exposure.
If this pair continue to play their cards right, Goulding could potentially feature alongside Little Boots, Florence and the Machine, Polly Scattergood, Elly Jackson and Marina in the contenders for this year's pop princess crown.
I'm a big fan of The Guardian's 'New Band of the Day'. I love the wonderfully detailed disections of the featured artists and writer Paul Lester's biting critique.
This week, The Guardian featured singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding. Lester introduced her as "a cross between a singer-songwriter and a synth-pop starlet", which is a pretty accurate description.
Ellie's acoustic stuff is great but I think her electronica infused numbers, such as the Frankmusik collaboration 'Wish I'd Stayed' and her excellent cover of Sam Sparro's 'Black and Gold', are what truly set her apart from the crowd.
Goulding is currently unsigned but I can't imagine this will be the case for much longer. Right-click here for her track 'Guns and Horses', courtesy of Neon Gold Records. A necessary addition to your music collection, I think you'll find.
Following on from my post about Neon Hitch and her endearing collection of covers comes a savvy mash-up of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' with Two Door Cinema Club's 'What You Know'.
Ellie Goulding's new video for 'Guns and Horses' has surfaced. And guess what? It features guns and, yes, you've guessed it... HORSES.
Not Many Experts recently identified the two stock introductions for reviewing the music of Ellie Goulding:
A few songs in, she sets aside her guitar for 'This Love' and 'The Writer' but, just as it seems the set is beginning to sag under the weight of these slightly MOR numbers, she takes to the drums for 'Salt Skin' and elevates the set to a whole new stratosphere.
Fresh from picking up her Critics' Choice Brit Award, Ellie Goulding has released this nifty little widget, with minute-long previews of tracks from her forthcoming album, 'Lights'.
The video for Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' has materialised and it doesn't disappoint.
I've already set my alarm clock to get up early on Saturday and book myself a ticket for Ellie Goulding's debut Irish headliner in The Academy on 14th of March.
It comes as no major surprise that Brit Award Critics' Choice winner Ellie Goulding has topped the BBC's 'Sound of 2010' poll of music industry gurus in the UK.
Ellie was still unsigned when Frankmusik introduced her to producer Fin Dow Smith (aka Starsmith) in January 2009 but, within days of meeting, the pair began recording tracks what were to form the basis of her solo album, which was completed earlier this week.
As the hype around Ellie Goulding continues to build, a clutch of her older folksy tracks have surfaced online.
When Little Boots toured the UK recently, her support was made up of the dream-team of Erik Hassle and Ellie Goulding. Rather tragically, it seems that neither act will be flanking Ms. Boots when she plays her debut Dublin headliner this Friday.
"Remixes are a gateway to new sounds." So says the lovely Platinum Jones, and I reckon he's not far wrong.
I've wanted to post about rising star Sky Ferreira for a while but there's always been one fairly significant hurdle to overcome: the girl has no songs.
The wonderful new Ellie Goulding single, 'Under The Sheets', was given its radio premiere a couple of days ago and has now materialised online in decent quality.
Almost a year after the initial release of 'Sleepyhead' by Passion Pit, re-interpretations of the track continue to surface.
The Gospel According To Neon Gold have an exclusive download of the utterly gorgeous 'Starry Eyed' by Goldsmith (the collaborative project of singer Ellie Goulding and up-and-coming producer Starsmith).
I'm a big fan of The Guardian's 'New Band of the Day'. I love the wonderfully detailed disections of the featured artists and writer Paul Lester's biting critique.
