So, I think mainly down to my undying love for Beyonce, this kinda just blew my mind. However, I also hate all but one of them for no clear reason. Aren't they just mad infuriating?! Apart from sexy Mr PTX down there, he can stay...

Take the Right

Oh Gawd... Brand's a fucking Don in this.
My 18 year old self's crush is totally back and here to stay.

#bringontherevolution haaa.

Because you never knew

Because you never knew I loved you, 

You never loved me true.

Because you never knew I loved you, 

We have only memories, only a few.

Because you never knew my feelings, strong,

It wasn't with you that I belonged.

Because you never knew my feelings, bold,

You gave me nothing, you left me cold.

Because you never knew I'm yours to keep,

My love grew stronger, grew too deep.

Because you never knew I was yours to have,

I was left all alone, this drove me mad.

Because you never knew I'll adore you forever,

You weren't mine to love, you weren't mine, ever.

Because you never knew all this, 

We never again shared that sweet lovers' kiss.

Because you never knew I loved you,

I never knew too.

You never knew I loved you,

But then again I think that, really, you always knew.

'Cos that's where the dream goes

Right, that's it. In 2015 or sooner I am moving to Paris.

I'm gonna see visions

The Little Sister and I are off to see Cold War Kids in all their glory tomorrow night at Manchester's Ritz HMV venue. I'm absurdly excited. Watch this space for a review, I know it's gonna blow my mind.

It's been a long time since someone looked at me that way

So here's The XX's contribution to The Great Gatsby soundtrack (released in May apparently). Again, I can already visualise the scene it's intended for. It's nice to see that The XX are being used for film soundtracks, I've always thought that pretty much their entire debut album could be used in cinema, their style fits it perfectly in my opinion. Remy's vocal in particular is gorgeous in this track, and as much as hearing the soundtrack prior to seeing the film might, in some opinions, ruin the impact of the film when eventually viewed, hearing these luscious little snippets is really getting me excited to see and hear the finished result.

Now there's green light in my eyes

So, I am a huge sucker for Florence Welsch's voice. Her Radio One Live Lounge cover of Drake's Take Care is one of my all time favourite tracks. This new offering, part of Jay-Z's soundtrack for Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby, has a similar swelling arrangement but a more melancholic sentiment. I can already visualize Carey Mulligan's expression on screen as this track bleeds through a key scene in the greatly-anticipated adaptation of one of my all time favourite novels. Nice work.

We're up all night to get lucky

The site I read about this on is entirely in hipster French so I only understood half of its meaning, but this is a damn cool track. Perfect for an evening in with a new personal sound system at your fingertips.
Welcome back Daft Punk. I look forward to spending my Summer with you.

I want to tell you my thoughts

As I once declared about their first release, We Used To Vacation, this track requires nothing more than a still-sunny evening and a neat glass of expensive whisky. Good luck attaining that in Britain's currently treacherous weather, but we can still imagine. Here's to summer.

There is no Smiths song called Oh Gross. 
Lol. I admit it.

Yearning

So I'm madly in love with Local Natives. I've been itching to write a long and adoring post about them and their newest album, Hummingbird, ever since I heard the it's lead single, Breakers. Their debut, Gorilla Manor, was the soundtrack to my most meaningful relationship to date, and is positively gorgeous is every way. As a creative ensemble, their harmonies are sunkissed and golden; their lyrics insightful and sensitive whilst avoiding over-sentimentality; and the general production is sweet, indulgent and pure.
Nothing has changed with their latest offering.
The entire album is an energetic lullaby that suits pretty much every one of my ever-fluctuating moods. The above video documents the LA band's recent La Blogotheque session which has me aching to return to Paris and drink wine and generally swoon all over the place. I don't think I've loved a band this much since my mid-teen We Are Scientists obsession. Also, I drunkenly purchased tickets for their UK tour with high levels of excitement and though it's not until October, I'm counting down the days. Fan Girl Penny Lainne is back big time.



P.S.
His moustache is undeniably, irreparably amazing.

Bad Blood

So I've been meaning to write another post about Bastille for a while now. I've posted one or two of their covers in the past without saying a great deal on them, though I remember the band being great live when I saw them a couple of years ago. They've had a fair bit of Radio One play time which is great for them and really showcases something we should be proud of and excited about in contemporary music. As much as they're pretty poppy and sweet, there's a tone to the vocal that's so unique and, in my view, absolutely gorgeous. Here's a sampler of their forthcoming album , Bad Blood, and though there are one or two relatively weak-sounding tracks on there, I think I'll be buying it.

Where does it lead to?

I am unbelievably excited about Cold War Kids' forthcoming fourth studio album. It's lead single, Miracle Mile, is just the kind of energetic jumble of noise and angst that I fell in love with way back in 2006. Seriously good track and a taste of what's to come. Robbers and Cowards take two? 

AWKWARD

So, after a relatively eventful week that consisted of a break up by text, 68+ hours of work, a night of four bottles of wine and dancing in a darkened student kitchen, and a paralytic night on the tiles that resulted in taking home a blonde Ryan Gosling look-a-like, I've had a relatively chilled out week consisting of sleeping, blazing, chilling, tidying and kittening.

However, tonight has been an odd one. Firstly, I left the house sober which is relatively rare these days...

Then, I ended up in Town earlier than planned (rare again) and headed for my most frequented of bars, anticipating that I'd find my gaggle of girls in there already. Instead, I find my most recent Ex in there (he broke up with my by text last Monday for an undisclosed reason and has been pretty cruel since) with another girl, clearly on a first date. Awkward to say the least.
My friend's aren't in the bar so I look lost and alone but, instead of skulking out, I decide to be the bigger person and go over to say hi, despite everything. We casually converse and discuss the previous night we'd been out together (he'd crashed my girly night out which had been planned "to get over him and bone someone else", it had been awkward but relatively pleasant and ended up with me taking home the a fore mentioned Ryan Gosling look-a-like). I then left to look for my friends elsewhere.

My friends, finally found with bicycle and tanning session in tow, decide that, despite awkwardness, we should go back to the bar I'd just been in. Mainly because drinks there are so cheap. And we basically live there. And it's hilarious. There are no further encounters with the Ex, but we did stare at and judge them quite a lot. His new haircut is terrible, it has to be said.

We then decide, now in a spiteful mood, that it's a good night to ruin some lives. This in mind, we contemplate heading to a nearby cocktail bar where the barman is hot but humourless, and another Ex of mine plays sets to entertain the inebriated masses.
This is a bad idea.

We go anyway.

This Ex is young, so young that even here, when anonymous, I'm embarrassed to admit that he's only 19. To be honest, I don't even care, I just find it hilarious, as should you. He's shocked to see me, especially with a large group of attractive girls in tow. We don't say much to each other but are pleasant enough. It had been nearly a year, very little to discuss.
He then starts his set. In due course, we heckle him. It is cruel. And hilarious.
We order more cocktails, we scream for more songs, we go for more cigarettes.
He joins us outside, rollie in hand.
Now it's time for a proper conversation.
I ask myself - do I want this? The answer is no. (But I play along for the comedy of the situation).
He tells me too much. I'm unimpressed but accepting enough. He thinks he's got another shot. I think not. I continue to play along anyway. Boring.

Eventually, we leave.
However, I left my number folded up in a paper aeroplane near enough to his gear for him to contemplate picking up.

We'll see where this goes. Updates soon...

Also

Credit should go to the 2nd most successful sentence of the year thus far:

"No one will ever know."

The Conquest

Top marks to the most successful sentence of the year thus far:

"Girlfriends mean nothing to girls like me..."



On another note, top marks to the worst suggestion of the year thus far:

"Hey, why don't you come back to mine instead? Then you can meet my girlfriend, I think you'd get on."

You don't love me and you never did.

Privileged Announcement

Ahem. So....





The Old Maid got laid. 

Jessie B

Just heard this on the radio (yes, I listen to the radio, Radio One infact), and I fell in love. It's bloody gorgeous and cool and makes the most of both vocalists' talent. I've never been that much of a fan of Katy B, or even Jessie Ware until I saw her at Beacons festival and then witnessed her exquisite performance on Jools Holland's Later, but this has changed things for me.

Enjoy.

Yeah, so, umm..

I was never Everything Everything's biggest fan when they broke on to the scene a while back. I remember the fuss over getting hold of one of their sold-out tickets in the Bodega, I remember Fearne Cotton and Zane Lowe's raving on about them, I remember they were/are a big deal to a lot of the hipsters I knew about town, mainly because they can be counted as Nottingham's very own cool-kid boast. However, I was never particularly taken with them - something about them, mainly the slightly high-pitched desperate vocal, put me off.
BUT having just heard this track, and subsequently checked out the video, there's something about the energy and vibrancy of Cough Cough that has caught my attention. Their forthcoming album's due out in January 2013 and if it's got anything similar to this then I reckon it'll be worth my while. Enjoy.

Who cares

Perfect summer vibe track.

Colour Fade

Worth a listen on this fine summers afternoon. Not listened to it all yet, but am intrigued and hopeful that it's worth my while. Something about the vocal reminds me of my beloved Bear Hands of Brooklyn. Particularly, Colour Fade's nice.

A Perfect Summer Wave

I've spent the entirety of this beautiful summers day listening to this gorgeously eclectic album while battling with a film essay. It's pretty much the only reason I've been keen to keep myself indoors all day scouring the internet for appropriate sources and critical insights without giving up.
Tesellate, Something Good, Ms and Bloodflood are my personal favourites, though as I've already made clear in previous posts, I'm a big alt-J fan. Enjoy.

Can't get to your heart

After a good week of listening to this every day (courtesy of the Old Maid's passing it on) I've decided I am totally in love with it, as I was with Castles In The Snow, a track whose lyrics are now tattooed on my back. Slick production aside, this is a real cracker. I cannot wait to request it on the dance floor of Rescue when the Old Maid returns!

Sweats

This kid might be sweaty as hell and have relatively questionable facial hair (and anyone who knows me knows that I rarely question a man's facial hair), but he's fucking cool.

I used to love you because you were mine.

ideology

chasing something that no longer exists

Paris, tu me manques

This track, written and performed by a Parisian darling friend of mine, has caused me to miss the city of love terribly. I must return there soon.

SCREAMS

Is it bad that this level of band-related mania makes total sense to me? I boody love One Direction.

Thinkin' back to the days when your love was all that mattered

New musical crush courtesy of KEXP radio.