I don't even know. This week is probably going to be a really dodgy week and I'm completely ambivalent about it because I get to see my friends again but I have to go back to school and I have a party in about twenty minutes but I completely wrecked last night when I was really mean to someone because I was trying to support someone else and I am so excited with all the new music I have but I don't have time to listen to it and it's my friend's birthday today and I don't have credit to text her.
Happy birthday Lillian.
Also I just found out my friend almost died. Great. On top of the fact that I'll never speak to a friend again because I was extremely rude to him and his parents. But then I had the best conversation with a friend I haven't talked to in ages. And a close friend and I sorted out something that's been troubling her for ages.
Ugh.
BUT I'M GOING TO TRY AND BE EXCITED BECAUSE WE BOUGHT TICKETS TO SEE TAVI GEVINSON SPEAK AT THE OPERA HOUSE WHEN SHE COMES TO SYDNEY OH MY GOODNESS. That's right. Tavi Gevinson.
To find out more about Tavi, take a look at this article here.
JOEY GRACEFFA YESS
But back to business.
I think I'll just leave you guys with a song. Here is Oceanics' 'Chinatown (Is Not Newtown) from their Bright People EP.
So evidently I have heaps of music and I know a few songs here and there. But some of you might be interested in where I find my music. If you're not, then keep scrolling.
When a mummy song and a daddy song love each other very much, they...
Ok got a bit carried away there. But Kaya thinks it's funny!
But NICHOLAS HOULTTTTTTTTTTTTT.
Back to business. Ahem.
So I get my music from heaps and heaps of different places - I get them from my friends (yes they exist) and because they all have varying tastes I kinda get a bit from everybody.
Bands I got from friends:
The Paper Kites, Of Monsters and Men, Mumm-Ra, Pegasus Bridge, et cetera et cetera - pretty much every band I found in 2011 is from a friend or radio.
Which brings me to radio. I really like to hop between all these different radio stations - I used to listen to Top 40 but it's so trashy and boring. I don't actually listen to triple j that much - it's pretty much Sir Richard Kingsmill Overlord of Triple J or Tom and Alex. I always seem to miss the Like A Versions which are the only good things about triple j, really. Some of the acts are okay but others are simply despicable. I really like the oldies music station :) it's the only station that plays David Bowie and Queen and Heart and Blondie. I do listen to this really lame daggy station for relaxing pop music which sounds like it sucks when it plays Carpenters (who are really slow and boring) but they play lots of 70s and 60s songs like The Monkees and The Turtles and The Beach Boys. I also like the Christian music station with some of the really great rock songs - some are really exciting and they're all parent friendly, unlike the metal station. Hunt the Haunted is not a good idea with parents. Ever. Please do not try. Unless your parents are metal musicians. In which case, go ahead.
I also get Youtube recommendations and weekly emails which are really helpful. I also love my Insound newsletter which has such epic New Wave tunes. Some of the Youtube comments are great - they're hell as annoying when they sell themselves on other people's pages but some of these musicians are really great.
I love to hear covers of some great songs and also hearing the support acts at music concerts. I do love Soundcloud with its free downloads sometimes and Fingertips music which features free music. But really most of my music is found on Youtube or friend recommendations - Youtube does songs and friends do artists. I do get music from good soundtracks (Suicide Room had a good soundtrack) but yeah. Friends and Youtube.
I manage to hoard music from pretty much everywhere - Shazam helps me a lot in cars, taxis and shopping centres but I also like to just memorise short snippets from lyrics then type them into Google :)
I find new songs all the time but I just can't remember them right now because my sewing machine is broken and my laptop is running out of battery. So there.
Ok, ok. I know my last Song of the Week post was Cub Scouts' 'Told You So' but upon rigorous re-listening I have decided that their EP is definitely one of the best I have heard. And when I was young, the Dead Sea was still sick.
There's a few albums that I really adore and while there are some stellar songs out there it is not often that I listen to the album and cry when it's over. Seriously. I love these albums. It's weird because I've found that some songs sound better in the whole album. It's like a bunch of friends - together you all fit happily.
This is perfect. If you follow my Instagram you would've seen it nevermind back to the albums.
There's a few albums that I can honestly say are so amazing. Alright, they're not as life changing as I've made out and chances are they're not even the best but just the ones that I really enjoy right now that I can remember so here are some really great albums you should definitely consider listening to or downloading.
1. Told You So - EP - Cub Scouts
So I've made my point with the song 'Told You So' but really it is a tremendously spectacular debut EP. The sounds are fresh, fun and brilliant. Tim Nelson's voice wafts over the songs yet Zoe's singing is highly deserving of an OH MY GOLLY GOSH. Together, they're Hi-5 amazing. Tim is such an amazing singer but the whole band is so cute and just wow I think my lexicon deserves a little kick. Oh dear.
But really. The EP is so perfect when played in one go. It just seems such a well thought out piece of work with a really fun vibe, especially 'Do You Hear' - the vocal melody seems innocuous but strangely hell bent on resisting resolution. I love it so much it hurts. 'Evie'
'Scream' is a beautiful composition, with the churchy, haunting tone at the start which leads to a rather sad chorus with a driving drum but minor aura which makes it sound like wistful reminiscence. When it all picks up with the more upbeat second verse and such I don't know I just feel like I should be staring out a window into the rain in a random house with a cup of tea. I'm ready for your bite.
This same feel is carried through to 'Light Me Up' which is even more sad and slow. It should be on some really sad drama soundtrack or something. Even so it's still a fantastic song. Slow sad songs are often really wonderful songs.
2. A is for Alpine - Alpine
This is an astounding album - when I first heard it I was smitten. Love at first listen. Phoebe and Lou's voices are so brilliant, singing in harmony above the clever guitars and bass. The chordal progressions are ingenious with artful dissonants and just wow. It's such a fresh noise with its airy qualities yet it still has ground and drive. In 'Lovers 1' and 'Lovers 2' the guitars are like the vocalists - not really virtuoso but clean and really lovely. I've already done a review of these guys so I might leave it there but it's a really amazing album.
Listen to 'Too Safe', my favourite from the album. I said 'Hands' was my favourite a while ago but seriously this is even better.
And the album cover looks like tennis courts. Oh yeah. Win.
3. The Wombats Proudly Present... This Modern Glitch - The Wombats
These guys helped me stick through 2011. Ignore the fact that I heard about them on an episode of 'The Circle' (DO NOT JUDGE). This is such an awesome album - I love all the songs except 'Anti-D' and 'Girls/Fast Car' (I told you to stop judging) which I only like. Everyone likes Anti-D but I find it a bit dramatic. Either way the album is so amazing I mean sure it might be a little suicidal nihilistic and sassayy but frankly it is such brilliant music I don't know how you couldn't love these little idiosyncrasies. They're such exquisitely written songs... no they're not.
I have reviewed these guys already but really, The Wombats are some of my favourite artists ever.
The entire album sounds really good when you listen in one go but here is my highlight, Jump Into The Fog:
Nihilistic? Check. Good song? Check. PERFECT? Check.
4. X&Y - Coldplay
A lot of critics have said that this album doesn't live up to its predecessors but honestly I find it poignant and the best album. The organs and piano make it all so sad and slow and beautiful and I don't know how to sum up this album. The tone is less rock-y than Parachutes and even though Coldplay probably pinched most of the riffs from other 'inspirations' I love the song. Frankly, the only song I've heard borrowed is 'Talk'. Oh yeah and 'Princess of China'. But still the tone of the album is so lovely - it sounds like the ocean's waves collected and played on a record. Of course there's the 'Fix You', covered ad nauseum, but 'White Shadows', 'What If?', 'Speed of Sound' and 'Twisted Logic' are really great songs.
Here's one of my favourites from the album, White Shadows:
The guitar is amazing in this album.
4. While We're Young - Pegasus Bridge
I've reviewed this album and its songs before but it's brilliant and they split up and BOOHOO. It has the most fun vibe ever and it sounds amazing loud. The music is perfect to dance to but it's not those mindless electro things out there that sound lke long distance dial tones having a seizure. Ed Turner has an amazing voice and even though it's a bit iffy in the acoustic versions at the end of the album this band is probably one of the best ever. Yay Pegasus Bridge.
Here's While We're Young, one of my favourite songs.
IT'S SO GOOD
5. xx - The xx
The xx are such great musicians, especially with their minimalist style. Seriously, they're amazing. Even though their new album Coexist is not that great at all (more like The zz) xx remains one of my favourites. It works melodically and all but I love the two guitars working together in harmony (literally). The tunes are memorable and catchy but the abstract lyrics keep you hooked.
Although some people find them a bit boring, I love them.
Here's one of my favourites, Crystalised:
Hm somehow I have subconsciously done my top 5 albums... No. I lied. I'm just too lazy to go on and I'm worried I'll bore all of you anyway so there. Adios.
So I (worryingly) figured that my blog probably says more about me than, say, I would be able to tell them in the space of the minute they are likely to give me.
I had the brilliant idea to share a cloying thought I had the other day on... friends!
Friends are pretty epic things to have, and to be. To be or not to be... let's leave it there.
Actually I don't even know what I'm saying now but I personally think that the friends who stick with you are the ones that you actually choose to be friends with, rather than being forced under the circumstances.
For example, I would end up being better friends with someone I met on the internet (creepy, I know) than someone I made friends with in Year 7 because we were in a project together. The person I met on the internet - I didn't have to make friends with them, but because of a shared interest we could actually fuel exciting conversations. This is opposed to the random friend I made through circumstance, who was my friend because she was nice. But that's about it, and we'll probably never speak again after we graduate.
And the cool thing about making a friend through common interests is if they live overseas or something or other, when you go on holiday or even move there you know someone cool :) unless of course they've been stalking you the last five years, in which case I suggest you say that you're looking for someone else.
Of course there are some people who are really close to you even though you met them because they lived next door to you, or went to your school, or were betrothed to as infants. And as time goes by, you'll either drift or become more similar and stuff will either work out or just dissipate. That is perfectly fine.
I just think that the greatest friends I've ever had shared so much with me - some of my friends are almost carbon copies of my personality. Obviously you're going to be slightly different. That would be weird. But when you see snippets (or massive chunks, depends) of yourself in people, you can't help feeling like you know this person already - probably because they are a little bit of you.
But there will always be those people who hit the jackpot and have a whole bunch of people around them who they can relate to (personality wise) and are all popular and stuff. Or they could just be good actors.
Now I'm not saying you should ditch all your friends and look for yourself on the internet (although that could be rather epic, having massive chat sessions with like minded people!) but I guess just have a little think. Which of your friends are situational friends? I know I have heaps because I go to a pretty small school and it's hard to not be friends or at least acquaintances with everyone. But I can honestly say that some of the people I've met that reflect me, whether through personality, humour, experience or all of those things are the friends that I will remember until memory loss sets in.
Friends are nice. Like a warm pizza in your lap. Or a fire in winter. Or taking a perfect picture.
