WHITE OUT

As you may have heard, wintry weather has been in abundance here in England - and we are set for more. As such, I thought I'd kick off my New Year's Resolution by posting a refined version of my winter playlist...

Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle (Dan's Magic Wand Remix)
- don't the bells sound just like icicles? Just me then...

Jens Lekman - The Cold Swedish Winter
- because I'm sure the Swedes are used to this weather, but also because snuggling up with someone is the best way to spend a cold night

Elbow - Weather to Fly
- beautiful song, perfectly captures that frosty morning feeling

Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds
- bet Mumford & Sons are pleased they chose to release this single now! "Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?" When temperatures are this cold, sometimes it's hard to tell...

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
- the archtypical winter's song, trust the Canadians to know how to do it.

The Pipettes - A Winter’s Sky
- romance isn't just for the Summer you know...

Grand Archives - Sleepdriving
- snow = treacherous driving. This song is that sleepy fed-up feeling when you know you've still got a long way to go

Laura Marling - Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)
- is there a more appropriate song right now? I think not.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank
- because every winter playlist must include a Bon Iver song (it does mean "good winter" in French after all), but the lyrics of this one are particularly poignant.

Zipbedeedoodah.

{photo courtesy of voithite on flickr}

New Years Resolution No. 2...

...to write more often!!

Happy New Year!

The Walkmen - In The New Year

If we wasn't so original then we'd be criminal

So Wale teamed up with Somalian rapper K'Naan and Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio to make this wicked tune -"wittily" called TV in the Radio. They basically just rap about how original they are - but the horns and beats elevate some pretty good lyrics into an absolutely awesome tune, proving once again that TVOTR are absolute legends and can do no wrong. As if you didn't know that already.

Never mind what anybody else done

I know I've been a little MIA recently... hopefully you've been tuning into my radio show, Pet Sounds on Pulse, (Tuesdays 2-4pm GMT) as most of my energies musically have been going into that.

Aside from that however, the one thing you can't do very easily on the radio is videos, and one video that defnintely been garnering some serious blog-inches is the vid for the new Yeasayer song, Ambling Alp. Yeasayer, you may remember, are the perpetrators of the fabulous, new-year themed 2080, but if anything, they've topped themselves with Ambling Alp. Heartfelt, joyous, dance-able, but with some awesome Middle-Eastern/African inspired beats, this is sure to make many best-ofs for this year

Their video, however, is something else. Utterly bizarre... but really really good I think, combining face-melting with cults with horses with deserts. Check it out below - but be warned, if you're watching it in a public place, there's some pretty interesting naked dancing going on at the end, so you may get some odd looks, I know I did...

Download Ambling Alp here.

London

Sorry for neglecting Tricks of late, I just started at the LSE and things have been a bit hectic! I'm still rambling on about music though, but this time on Pulse, the LSE student radio. You can listen to my show, Pet Sounds, Tuesdays 2-4pm here, or for a week after on demand online. I'm also writing reviews for Pulse, so keep an eye out for that too!

{Photo courtesy of markhillary on flickr}

Have you seen this?

Quite possibly one of the most shocking videos I've seen in a long long time, Matt and Kim's Lessons Learned is a truly original piece of work. It won the MTV Breakthrough Video Award at the VMAs this year, beating off some pretty serious competition from the likes of Major Lazer and Bat for Lashes. Yet, while it's undoubtedly a breathtaking video, after watching it, I literally couldn't remember the song it was promoting - surely that's a sign of a terrible video?



Perhaps that's because whenever I think of Matt and Kim, their song Daylight springs to mind. Above is the video for it - quite a bit less controversial I think you'll agree. The tune's been kicking around for a while now - I first heard it in January of this year, then it popped up in a Bacardi commercial (thanks Ashley!), and now I keep it hearing it on the soundtrack for Fifa '10, my flatmate's new obsession. It's lovely - all jangly keyboards, yelping vocals, with a bit of a hip-hop vibe to the drumbeat. It's also available for download as a lovely freebie on their record label Greensounds. I get the impression that it's a case of "lightning doesn't strike twice" with this song - I don't think Matt and Kim have anything else as good as this up their sleeves - and all the incessant promoting is a little tiring. But the song itself is great, and that's what matters.

The most beautiful colours chase the sun

Local Natives are officially the next big thing. Compared by some to Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes with good reason, they combine the interesting African drum rhythms of Vampire Weekend, the folky harmonies of Fleet Foxes and the overarching heart-aching melodies of Arcade Fire to powerful and infectious effect. Airplanes, the first song I heard by Local Natives, didn't immediately blow me away I have to admit; it sounded too much like a dozen other indie bands. But the plaintive refrain of the chorus (I love it all/So much I call/I want you back) stayed with me, and when I heard Sun Hands, a slightly darker, more percussive track, I knew that Local Natives were ones to watch. The five guys are clearly intelligent and passionate about what they do - you can see evidence of this in their blog - but you also get the impression that this is a band driven to achieve success and recognition, especially after checking out their slick myspace. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because the songs are worthy of success and recognition, but get ready for them to be name-checked a thousand times in the next year!

Local Natives are currently on the NME Radar tour along with Golden Silvers, Marina & the Diamonds and Yes Giantess - a pretty stellar line up! Debut album, Gorilla Manor is released on the 2nd November.

Check out their awesome cover of Simon & Garfunkel's Cecilia below: