Mixtapes
28 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 23
Day 23 | A Song That You Want To Play At Your Wedding (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: The Knife – 'Heartbeats' Well, since the gays aren’t yet permitted to have an actual wedding (sorry for the brief political aside), at my civil partnership, I intend to be an over-controlling DJ as well as one of the brides. There will be well crafted playlists, and the order of the day will be to dance, dance, dance. To this song.
Maria: Sublime feat. Gwen Stefani – ‘Saw Red’ Much of this song is simply the phrase “Everyday I love you a little bit more” recycled over and over, which is all my boyfriend and me choose to hear through the other more vengeful elements of the lyrics. I love Gwen Stefani for her undeniable sass, and Sublime for their infectious upbeat-ness, so this song for me is a ball of joy, perfect for such an important, happy day.
Rosie: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – ‘Cheek to Cheek’ This is a classic beautiful romantic song: elegant and gorgeous. Now I just have learn to dance like Ginger Rogers and find a husband who can dance like Fred Astaire! (more...)
27 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 22
Day 22 | A Song That You Listen To When You’re Sad (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: Patti Smith – 'Pissing In A River' This is the ‘Kathy gets dumped’ classic. Wailing ‘come back, come back’ to whoever has run off. How depressing. Sigh.
Maria: Marina and the Diamonds – ‘Obsessions’ Most of Marina and the Diamonds’ début album is upbeat with a positive message, but this track finds her blue, sombre, scathing and reflective, with softer, colder vocals, and simpler instrumentation. The lyrical content mixed with the instrumentation lend an important sense of solidarity, as well representing my own blend of sadness, which is almost always mixed with anger, concern and self-obsession.
Rosie: Joni Mitchell – ‘A Case of You’ Another Joni song, I find her voice so soothing. She always comforts me. (more...)19 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 21
Day 21 | A Song That You Listen To When You're Happy (Spotify – click here for the playlist)
Kathy: Paramore – 'Misery Business' Yes, it’s adolescent. But this song has all the ingredients of a great pop punk record: It’s fast, it’s catchy, it’s got kick-ass guitar lines, and Hayley is a vocal powerhouse. I love the lyrics too: ‘There’s a million other girls who do it just like you...well, I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!’. Girl power, emo style.Maria: Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts' Noisettes certainly fall into the more facile, pop side of indie, but they still make very upbeat, positive music that is perfectly conductive for a happy mood. (more...)
18 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 20
Day 20 | A Song That You Listen To When You're Angry (Spotify – click here for the playlist)
Kathy: The Distillers – 'I Am A Revenant' There’s nothing better when I’m angry than listening to fast punk rock and getting aggressive. The Distillers hit the spot with this song. I can shout along to Brodie Dalle’s gravely vocal, punch the air, and ‘run into the night’.
Maria: Laura Marling - 'Devil's Spoke' Laura Marling may seem like a strange choice for an angry playlist, given her soft acoustic folk music style. I however find that much of Marling’s second album, and especially ‘Devil’s Spoke’ have a sullen, coolly angry vibe that perfectly represents that uncertain, vague kind of despondent anger often felt. (more...)
17 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 19
Day 19 | A Song From Your Favourite Album (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: Pretty Girls Make Graves – 'Sad Girls Por Vida' I love Pretty Girls Make Graves. 2002’s Good Health was their first full length and is amongst my favourite albums. It is a post-hardcore treat with plenty to dance to.
Maria: Moloko - 'Indigo' Favourite albums are much like favourite tracks – subject to frequent change. However, the album Things to Make and Do by Moloko has been a consistent favourite of mine for over ten years, and I still listen to it repeatedly. ‘Indigo’ is my favourite track from it. (more...)
16 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 18
Day 18 | A Song That You Wish You Heard On The Radio (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: The Butchies – 'Disco' I often lament over The Butchies as I don’t think they got the recognition they deserved during their time. In my perfect world, queer girl bands would dominate the airwaves, singing lovely songs like this one.
Maria: Nedry - 'A42' There is a slim chance that Nedry’s wonderful brand of subtle, developed, post-rock meets dubstep might have possibly been played a little on Radio 1 or 6 Music, but it certainly was not on any radio playlists and would never be played on Radio 2. This is my favourite track of theirs and I would love to have first discovered it on the radio – what a station that would be. (more...)
15 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 17
Day 17 | A Song That You Hear Often On The Radio (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: Adele - 'Rolling in the Deep' I’m in America at the moment and everyone is in love with Adele. This song is dominating radio playlists. It also dominated a recent drag show I attended, but that’s another story.
Maria: The Pierces - 'Glorious' The only place I listen to the radio a lot is at work, where the station of choice is BBC Radio 2. This track by The Pierces has been played at least two or three times a day for the past two months or so, so thank God I like it. (more...)
14 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 16
Day 16 | A Song That You Used To Love But Now Hate (Spotify – click here for the playlist)Kathy: Skunk Anansie – 'Hedonism - Just Because You Feel Good' When I was an angry young thing, I spent many an hour listening to this, thinking that it was the most profound and beautiful song I had ever heard. More recently, I have realised that I was wrong. So now I just find it highly irritating.
Maria: KT Tunstall - 'Other Side of the World' Hate is a strong word, and there are very few tracks that I have truly loved but ended up hating, however, when KT Tunstall released her first album, I, along with numerous advertisers throughout the country, played this track to death. An unfortunate consequence of this is that I cannot listen to it anymore without feeling impassive, bordering on bored. (more...)
14 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 15
Day 15 | A Song That Describes You (Spotify – click here for the playlist)
Kathy: Cat Power – 'The Greatest' A narcissistic choice? In all seriousness, this beautiful song speaks of ambition, disappointment, survival, love. I’m a little bit about all of those things. I love the slow, bluesy piano and the orchestration of the strings. Cat Power is astonishingly good.
Maria: Ida Maria - 'Oh My God' This Ida Maria song perfectly encapsulates both musically and lyrically my life and general demeanour at present, in that both are a whirlwind of rushing, uptight excitement; angst-ridden but yet ultimately still trying to remain positive, upbeat and optimistic against overwhelming fragility and uncertainty. (more...)
12 Jun 2011
30 Day Song Challenge | Day 14
Kathy: Jessie J - 'Do It Like A Dude' I generally like my ladies to play guitar and shout, so no one ever really expects me to like pop. However, I'm seriously into this brash, dirty offering from Jessie J. This song also brought a sexy butch aesthetic into a mainstream pop pop video, which is practically a miracle.
Maria: Lady Gaga - Telephone' For reasons unknown to me people are always surprised when they find out that I like Lady Gaga, and especially that my favourite song of hers features another incredibly mainstream pop artist – Beyoncé. To me though, both Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are both perfect examples of powerful, modern women in pop music, creating their own controversies and some very interesting, dynamic pop music along the way. (more...)
