[I don't mean to sound so pretentious with my titles – I just wanted something a little more interesting than "songs that got me through the past week"]
A few days ago, the shamelessly-executed feat of egoism that was being my own publicist and sharing this blog to "the masses" led to the shocking –yet obvious– revelation that I was advertising nothing more than an archive of material, all of which had been written a matter of months ago. The curse of writers' block, in all its ambiguously-perennial glory, has been known to ail me for disconcerting periods of time, and it may well be here to stay until a seriously contrived prompt makes itself apparent and results in prolific bouts of creative writing.
So, in order to compensate for this frustrating situation, and keep my posting on this blog (somewhat) regular, I've decided to voice my preferences in areas about which I am a complete dilettante, i.e. music. Below are a handful of songs that, for the past seven days, I have either found myself repeatedly listening to, tunelessly singing, or pervading my head in the form of incessant loops and dubiously-ascribed lyrics:
1. Dead Sea by The Lumineers
I've only recently started listening to this band, but what little music of theirs I've been exposed to I thoroughly enjoy. Their songs are musically and lyrically simple, but poignant and charismatic nevertheless.
2.Can't Help Falling In Love (Elvis cover) by "Fleet Foxes"
Life is full of countless aesthetic pleasures, and the subdued timbre of indie folk music is certainly one of them. I use inverted commas for a reason: the name "Fleet Foxes" is actually the alias created by a group typically known as Fleet Foxes Sing, who have recorded wonderful covers of a number of songs. Said recordings can be found here.
3. England by The National
To me, The National's music is synonymous with "haunting melodies with equally haunting lyrics, both of which are capable of provoking enough nostalgia to make listening to them more than once a highly masochistic venture."
4. Liarbird by The Growl
For want of a more original statement, I can only describe the singing voice of frontman Cam Avery (who also happens to be the new bassist for Tame Impala, a member of Pond, dubious acquaintance of Alexa Chung's, and general overachiever) as being "like melted chocolate," a statement I recall reading on Tumblr some time ago. The music video is strangely entertaining too; if I'm not mistaken, the general consensus is that Nick Albrook deserves an Oscar.
5. You're The One That I Want (Grease cover) by Angus and Julia Stone
As if one cover wasn't enough, here's a song that left me rather deluded with the conviction that I had mastered the art of harmonising, or at least singing along to Angus's part. The Australian sister-brother duo hit it out of the park with their acoustic rendition of this classic musical number. I would say that this can only be expected of them, but my prejudice that a less-upbeat version of the song would be unlikely to work rendered me initially skeptical. It goes without saying that their original material is worth a listen too.
6. R U Mine? by Arctic Monkeys
It was a job of terrible indecision trying to discern which song from AM should make it to this playlist (here's a link to the full album anyway). Admittedly, the first few listens AM (or rather the song-by-song leaks) were a little disheartening, as I'm sure was the case for many loyal fans of the Northern four-piece; their sound had undergone stylistic evolution, to a degree that isn't there when you compare their previous albums with each other. They've experimented significantly genres in this album, particularly in numbers such as 'Why D'you Only Call Me When You're High?' and 'Knee Socks', both of which show strong RnB influences. Having said that, I am fully converted as a fan of this album, and for those who aren't quite so convinced, closer listening does provide the occasional, comforting reversion to their former style. The raunchy, distorted guitar part chords, as well as the lyrics and tempo, of 'R U Mine?' are a prime example of this.
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