What do you mean it's not the original?

Cover versions. Love 'em or hate 'em but they've been a part of music since it very beginning. 

 I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I get annoyed every time I find out that a song I've loved forever is a cover version because then I go to the original and it doesn't sound right. Songs like Tainted Love by Soft Cell have been played so much more than the original (Gloria Jones' version) that in my head they no longer constitute a cover version. They become their own song in their own right (which is unfair to the original). 

On the other hand, cover versions of iconic songs can go two ways. Either they're a great rendition and the artist knows how to add their personal touch to make it differ from the OG or it's absolutely devoid of feeling and it just feels like the white brand version of the song. 

Then there are the GREAT cover versions. Those are the ones where artists take songs that are the opposite of the genre that they move in and bring them to their home turf to make the perfect symbiote. For example, Lost in Music which is a disco song by Sister Sledge was covered by The Fall who made an ace job of it because the original is so popular you can recognise it right away but it still sounds like a Fall song. If you didn't know of the existence of Sister Sledge you would never say that it's meant to be a disco tune. The same goes for The Slits and their reggae-punk version of Heard It Through The Grapevine or Walk On Guilded Splinters by Paul Weller (originally by Dr. John Creaux). Although, a lot of it has to do with the fact that the original is such a good song that it would work in whatever genre you want to put it in. So kudos to the OGs. 

I've been making a compilation of excellent covers of songs. It's a work in progress and I'm missing all the biggies still (yes, Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana will be added eventually). Let's take a look at a couple of these. 

I want to point out Jackie Wilson's version of Light My Fire. It came out in 1968, a year after its original release by The Doors. And to me, it's odd to find a soul artist cover music from someone else. Soul artists do a million different versions of soul songs (see My Girl for reference, originally by The Temptations), but I have rarely seen them cover other genres and certainly not psychedelic rock. The great thing is that Jackie Wilson doesn't stray from his line of music at all so Light My Fire sounds like a great Motown song. There's no organ, and obviously, the dreamy reverbed Jim Morrison which gives it so much personality is nowhere to be heard. Instead, we have some great percussion work and some horn charts. And forget about being taken into a dreamlike trance with Morrison,  Jackie Wilson's voice is here to directly seduce you. 

It's one of those times that I wish my ears were virgin ears and I was listening to both versions for the first time just to see in which genre it fits best. 

Have a go at both and get back to me.

Okay, let's go now to the most annoying and at the same time one of the most beautiful songs ever written (in any of its forms). Forever, I thought that It's All Over Now, Baby Blue was a song by Them. And I remember thinking, wow I knew Van Morrison was good but this is something else. it was only last year that I found out by chance that it's in fact a Bob Dylan song (1966) and it was covered by Them, The Animals and probably a bunch of other people. Even Echo & The Bunnymen did a version (not their best work). 

Of course, to me, the version by Them is the best, even better than the original if I'm being honest. Van Morrison's bluesy voice, paired with the sweet guitar just works a treat to my ears. I've heard the Bob Dylan version and why is it, that if he's the one who wrote the thing, does it feel to me that there's not so much heart poured into it? I feel terrible saying anything remotely bad about Bob Dylan since he's pretty much the father of music but still, it's true. 

The only other version of the song that can compete is the recently released version by ANOHNI, who if you didn't know is the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons only she went solo a few years back. This version just sounds like a different song altogether. The effects on her anguished voice and that damn guitar sends chills up and down my spine for four minutes straight. Direct line to the waterworks. 

Give the three versions a go and tell me I'm wrong. 

  

And now for a very odd finish. I don't know why, don't ask me but I have a very soft spot for Julio Iglesias. I DON'T KNOW WHY. I just do. Actually, I have a guilty soft spot for his son too but never mind that, it's completely generational. With Iglesias (father) there's something about being transported back in time immediately as soon as I hear his voice. He sings like it's an eternal summer in the 1970s. He's like the Spanish Tom Jones and I'm here for it. Julio Iglesias did a cover version of Solamente Una Vez which is originally by the genius Mexican musician Agustín Lara (1953). And as much as I love Agustín Lara's version (which also sends me back almost a century), with Julio Iglesias the lyrics feel true-er and I would happily give myself to the song and sway along with whatever he told me. To me it feels more paced, like the song is taking its time to get its point across. Like savouring a meal almost. I don't think I can explain it any better than that. 

I bloody love this cover.  

I could go on forever but I won't. Just give the list a follow and make your own opinions. 

Her Dark Materials: Sequins

The end is nigh. But what an end. 

That's what apocalypse preachers never tell you. Yeah, we're all going to go down in a blaze of fire and pain but nobody tells you what the soundtrack to the end of the world is going to be. 

If this is it, it might just be worth it. 

The final installment of the materials set is here. Our last material is sequins. Usually only allowed on New Year's Eve and representing celebration in its highest form. They are flashy, dramatic and ideal to dance in moving around strobe lights. 

What better music for it to represent than groovy disco house? There is no better music. Hands down the best subgenre of electronic music. It never fails to make you feel happy, it never fails to make you want to dance and it never fails to make you dive deep into the world of sampled 70's disco. 

One final time, let's do this. No shuffling, for the life of me, and no skipping tunes, for the life of you. 

Track one. We're due a warm-up first, so Give Me Your Love by Outunder is precisely that. It's slow and sultry and it's meant to get you in the mood. There's something in this song that I love about this genre and it's that it has a stop at the middle and it includes spoken vocals taken out of films, songs, poems or in this case, stand-up comedy. The djs usually manage to blend in this element perfectly with the organic beat that's the spine of the song. In this case, it's also combined with a series of moans that significantly makes it all hotter. The song never really picks up the pace but that's not what we want yet anyway. Open your ears, and gather your bearings, we're going on a sexy apocalyptic ride. 

Whistleblower by Rhode & Brown (the Hodini rework) picks up the pace a little. You can't sit still with this one. It keeps adding layers to the song with an actual whistle being one of them. The clear jazzy piano sequence works very well with the deep reverbed bassline and that's what holds the whole track together. There are no significant vocals in this one which is a fresh change since the rest of the list will rely heavily on them. Pantoufle by Georges follows in the same line as the previous track only it has a fantastic guitar riff holding the rest of the song up. 

For Electric Drama by Lovers, the sampled original music takes center stage and has a lot of weight in the track. There is a piece made up of sampled string instruments and some horn charts that fully open up the world of disco. The tune starts off quite slow so you might feel a slight comedown from Pantoufle but it has a fantastic build-up and reaches a good peak around minute 5. 

The Groovy Thing by Jamie Trench is a rough and funky rise in energy for the list and For You, I'm Sure by Tuesday Brunch has the same effect only with lighter punch to it. These two tracks are the signal that we're on a steady climb to reach our first point of climax.

I caught my hips doing a little dance while I was sat at my desk while listening to All Night by Art of Tones, so that must mean we're close. Similar to climbing Mount Everest and for a second the clouds disappear and you can see its peak. The looped bassline reminds me vaguely of Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust and overall it has a very Daft Punk feel to it. This means nothing other than those two artists had heavy disco influences when making their music. 

Ten points to whoever can tell me what song is sampled in Partylife by Stefano Ritteri. I've heard it before. Trillions of times. And I have the original stashed somewhere in my Spotify but I can't friggin put my finger on the title or artist of it. Anyway. The track keeps the steady groove going as it greets you with "welcome to the 70s". There is an abrupt stop around minute 4 that genuinely had me thinking something had happened to the computer, but it breaks magnificently seconds later. I think at that point I said out loud "youuu dog, you" while I shook my index finger at the screen.  

Our first almighty high comes at Peter Brown's Troubles (the Richard Earnshaw Remix). It has it all, a quick bit, groovy basslines, a looped piano sequence and screaming soulful vocals.  Completely feelgood with its intervals in energy so within the song we find pauses and splurges of vigour. 

Watashi No Sukinahito by Boku Wa takes us to the Japanese disco scene and keeps the tempo going. There is a full dancefloor and neon lights of pink and blue bouncing off every single sequin. 

Call it House by Never Dull is the start of a slight comedown. Nevertheless, it's potentially my favourite song on the list. That guitar riff with the broken backing vocals work too well in my ears. An ode to house music and an ode to funk. Despite the track not being as lively as the previous ones, it will still have you moving around in your chair unconsciously. It will do so in a slightly sexier and cooler way.

The next subsection is still house music obviously but it gradually gives the electronic less of an importance and it starts to sound a lot more like standard disco or funk music. More powerful vocals, more strings working together and those keyboards that are always at the foundation of the tracks. This mood is encapsulated perfectly by Voodoo? by L'Imperatrice (the Lazywax remix).

I flipped this around with Humans by Night Tapes (the Franc Moody remix), electronic sounds come back into the scene big time and the bassline has an artificial feel to it. The original song is so sweet, ethereal and soft that the remix sounds like a completely different track. It has no resemblance at all. They're both equally enjoyable. 

And since it's the end of the end, I decided to go out with a massive bang. I had trouble deciding what to finish off with so like in The Lord of the Rings, I decided to have multiple endings. The end of the end starts at My Body Moves by Robbie Rivera and Elizabeth Gandolfo (the Soul Speech remix). We have the vocals and that looped piano driving everyone nuts in a good way. It has a little more electronic beats than what I'm used to enjoying in this type of house music but it works very well regardless. 

Experience by Sum Bloke is the heart of the subgenre. It has it all, There's a sax solo that's lost somewhere in the middle just before it drops and the first time I heard it, I literally spiraled out of control. I think I said, "Well now you're just showing off". Ex.Quisite. 

Shift by Phil Fuldner doesn't even let you rest. Even for a second. The curious thing about this one is that it has all the similar elements as the rest of the tunes on the list but the vocals are clearly taken out of somewhere within the reggae scene. So it has a little bit of an edge in that sense but still respects the mood of the selection. 

End your lists properly because it will be the last thing everyone will listen and it's how it makes them feel is that they'll remember. I said I wanted to go out with a bang. And I did. But There Must Be Something by Freiboitar doesn't start off that way. It has a little jazz workings that it builds up on. A sweet high-key piano that coexists with an almost bothersome noise. All of this with the sampled soulful vocals of Friday Saturday & Sunday-There Must Be Something. It's not the bang I thought I wanted but it's definitely the one I needed.

All good things come to an end and that is a good thing in itself.

I will not be posting soon. (that way if I do it's just a pleasant surprise for myself)

Her Dark Materials: Cotton

My job is to be as confusing as possible. Either one post in three months or two in a space of two days. It's the brilliant curse of intermittent inspiration.

Nah, that's not entirely true, it's simply that writing on here feels easier, like an unfiltered stream of my internal monologue is trickling out of my fingertips and also, it serves as a break from heavier stuff. I've been lucky to be inspired throughout the autumn, only in a very different way. 

The materials set is almost finished and I've saved my favourite subgenres for last. We still have two to go so chop chop. Let's intro the shit out of this list so you can press play. 

Cotton. Who doesn't like cotton? It's soft and breathable, it's comfy, warm and feels like you're being hugged by a cloud. 

Therefore, I think it doesn't need to be up for discussion when I relate cotton to deep house. In my mind, it's directly related to falling asleep and going into a profound dream. The sounds almost always sound distant and stuffy, like listening to reality through the wall of the unconscious. 

I won't hold you back any longer. Get into bed, cover yourself up with a blanket, make sure the shuffle button is the f- off and close your eyes. 

You're in bed, the lights are out yet you're still awake. Passing cars in the street project a show of shadows on your bedroom wall. That's I Like You A Lot by SI-FI. The beat and the keyboard melody are still quite crisp and sound very close to our ears. Also the distinct and quickly delivered lyrics  (which are taken straight out of Dumb and Dumber by the way) are proof that sleep isn't close yet. When we get to Cody Is A Tank by DATSKO and Itani we have a similar feeling to it but the voice already sounds a little distant and the keyboard is more distorted, almost sounding as if it's being played inside your eardrum. 

Eyelids start to droop in Whatever Happens, Happens by Loverground and Henrik Villard. A soft and mellow veil of sound covers your body and completely envelops it. You are surrendered to the power of the dj of drowsyness. 

With montage l.a. by sunflwr we have fully fallen headfirst into the dream. And it's a pleasant dream, it's a peaceful sleep. For the following section, the voices are now female and have a sweeter note to them. The enveloping veil is still there and will be throughout the rest of the list. It's kind of like being a caterpillar in a pod just waiting to complete transformation. That particular subsection finishes at U Gotta Show Me Luv by Júlio Cruz and Cage.

Have you ever had a nostalgic dream? Not a dream that made you nostalgic when you woke up from it, but a dream where you felt nostalgic as you were living it. That's the mood of what's up next, and because I'm a sad little girl, it's my favourite part. The next tr-

oh no. 

oh god no. 

I accidentally added two songs by DATSKO. Okay, nevermind. Never mind. Never sodding mind. We'll just pretend it's a deja vu. *spends the rest of the day in a huff*

ALL BY YOURSELF is not as cheery as the ones before and it serves as a transition into a different vibe. That feeling is complete when we get to Healing Process by Tom Vernon. You're floating in a little cotton cloud of sadness and melancholy but still at peace. It's where you want to be, and if you have doubts, they're blown away as the sample of Hotline Bling by Drake enters. 

The same thing happens with Hear Me by Ludua, it uses the sample of Modjo's Lady (Hear Me Tonight) to remind us of happier times. Now we're remembering them from the world of dreams and although it's not a sad song there's a pang of distance that makes it nostalgic.

Peak sadness and peak depth reach us with NYE 2005 by Model Man it gives so much importance to the keyboard that the beats are slowly introduced almost at minute one. Nevertheless, it's a low that the list needed. Different from other materials where there is a peak of noise, sexyness, or pump, in this case, the peak we wanted to reach has the opposite effect. It's almost a pause in the sequence of songs. 

We slowly make a comeback from that part of the dream but we're not out of the nostalgic woods just yet. Miroki by DJibouti and DJacuzzi is definitely a harsher sound with those acid loops in the middle but the keyboard grounds us to the essence of the playlist. 

ONCE AGAIN by Catlow brings back the female vocals and the light feel to the songs. We're still very deep in the dream but it is pleasant once again (no pun intended).

And for the end, we need something that wakes us up. Again the sounds are crisper and clearer once we reach AMLV by cuanzi. We pick up the pace of the bpms and our heart begins to understand we're on the verge of ending our slumber. Nevertheless, the lyrics are still a little distant, so we're not in the waking world just yet. 

SETTIMA NOTTE is our alarm clock. We're still confused and dazed from waking up, but we're here. It's to remind us of how deep we went and where we are now. Ironically the least cotton song on the list yet it might be my favourite. 

Despite that little mishap in the middle where I went against the most important rule of the art of making playlists, overall, cotton is fantastic and easy to get through during any moment of the day.

Cocking it up since 1995, Kk out. 

Ps: Please wait for the next and final installment of the materials set. Not to hype it up, but it will 100% be the best one. 

Her Dark Materials: Linen

Today has been the first time in a long time that I've managed to find sufficient inspiration, strength and time to continue my little endeavor into the world of incredibly specific mood playlists.

The setlist compiling electronic music associated with textiles is still very much alive and I'm here to unpack its latest installment. Linen. 

Linen is a material usually worn in the summer in hot countries. I have therefore associated it with a subgenre of electronic music that relies heavily on African drum sounds, latin lyrics and rich high-hats. 

Here it is, in order. 

If you've followed the three materials before this one, you might know by now that I like to tell little stories with my playlists and that they're divided into smaller sections. 

Linen begins with our arrival in this hot country. It starts off calm and we can hear crickets, so we've arrived at night and we can barely see the ground in front of our feet. Akabongi by Daniel Haaksman, Spoek Mathambo, Los Bulldozer and Kapote (who provides the remix), wouldn't have made it on the list but for the guitars that kick off around the second minute. I thought it was quite a cheerful sound that fit perfectly with the start, to help everyone understand what's coming.

Pray by Trashlagoon on the other hand isn't as cheery but it does feel like a warm breeze on your face and it would be a song that I could picture myself listening to at sunrise. It only has a hint of the drums I was referring to at the beginning so it feels quieter, like the day is just starting. 

Caparica by Populous signals that the sun is getting warmer. People are on the streets, there is hustle and bustle, there is chaos and strange smells surround you. You start to truly connect to the drums and you can feel invisible threads pull at your chest and force you to dance to the beat. 

Things change when we get to Pa Lante by Tom & Collins, Mr. Pig, Minow and Gabsy. It has gotten a lot faster and the drums require quicker feet. We're at twilight and there is a lot of humidity, the linen starts to stick to your back as the dancing gets heated. It might be one of my favourites of the list simply because there is no way this song doesn't make you feel good. 

But my favourite is without a doubt Xtasis by Nick León and Dj Babatr. It feels like the dark side of the moon but it is in fact the heart and soul of the mood I'm trying to encapsulate with the list. There is still positive energy coming from it and there are fast drums even though the sounds are slightly less organic than before. It holds the exotic essence and it has a great kick-off around the middle that just sends you spiraling into some other dimension. Ten outta ten. 

The harshest song on the list is once again by CRRDR, it's Besinho and it's hard to keep up with it. The sounds are nowhere near organic anymore yet it still manages to hint at those drum arrangements we've been listening to so far. Also, the lyrics in Portuguese make us think it might just be some dodgy Brazilian number. I didn't want to get too far into this vibe so after CRRDR I softened the mood again. 

Even though we're keeping the list quite chilled out, it's still night in my mind and that's what Umma represents. The song by Matt Sawyer and Everything Counts is clearly a darker energy than the first songs and it serves as a good transition between CRRDR and the African-beat-infused house music that is up next. 

The purest house song on the list is Significant Others by Chaos In The CBD. It is lounge house as I like to dub it but it has the same drum sequence as the rest of the list entwined with the rest of the elements of the song. It is the heart of track and yet it remains classy and expensive. It also has this Peruvian pan flute segment that brings it all together and highlights the warmth of the song. Riu - N'Dini mix by Millok and Kingja is exactly like the previous song only with a little bit more spice to it. It's faster, groovier and is asking you once again to sway to the beat. The horn charts in the middle are excellent and it's what earned it its spot on the list. It has peak moment of the night energy. 

Another one of my favourites is Ritmo del Amor by Hamza Rahimutula. The DJ manages to balance perfectly the moment in which he drops so he spends the first two and a half minutes teasing the listener. The drop isn't even that spectacular but it's enough to want to keep listening. The moment when it all comes together is as the lyrics are added in and he starts to prepare the next one. 

And to finish off, we have a high-energy track, Hear My Soul by GW Harrison. We're still respecting the drum sequence that has been with us since the beginning but this one also has a soulful voice guiding us along the latin rhythms. An excellent communion of elements and a final tune to leave you wanting more which is the general feeling when your summer holidays are coming to a close. 

Linen was hard to make but extremely enjoyable to listen back to back. Hopefully, the listeners will agree. 

Anyways. 

More materials will be up shortly. 

Her Dark Materials: Silk

I'm on fire. Three posts in less than a week? The Singapore bots must be enjoying all the raves.

So, here's the next installment of the Her Dark Materials set. Silk. A bitch of a fabric and a bitch of a list. It took me forever to try to pinpoint the mood and different tramlines that made sense between themselves and with the whole.

I'm not really pleased with the overall result. It's the horse meme where it starts off really detailed and ends up being dogshite. 

Silk is a fancy material and as such it's a fancy event. I don't know how to explain it, but it needs to sound clean, regardless of whether it's loud or fast or whatever, it has to sound like diamonds clinking together. It's an exclusive party in a London penthouse. Not with those shoes love. 

Here it is. No shuffling or so help me, yadda yadda yadda. 

So. As I said, I enjoyed making the start and had a very clear trajectory for it. I don't know when it started to derail but let's just go through it together and see, shall we? 

We hit it off in the limo, we haven't even got there yet. DWIG's One for Good to me sounds like a slow moving car. I can see the silver wheels turning smoothly and the flashing streetlights as it passes. You're feeling done up and you still smell of the artificial scent you sprayed on your chest. Nice little exuberant Uber ride. 

This compilation has a very slow burn and you don't actually reach the party until you get to Mixed Emotions by Chase & Status and Clementine Douglas.  I said it was a party in London so we need the signature drum and bass sound. Who better for that than the iconic duo who have been dropping the same friggin' beat since 2003 (not a compliment). I normally don't listen to stuff like this, but I admit that I loved the No More Idols (2011) album. If I have to pick an artist that sounds similar but better, I'm more of a Magnetic Man girl myself (even though they only released the self-titled Magnetic Man album in 2010 and then disappeared forever). 

But enough d&b, it gets so boring after a few minutes. This Feeling by Eden Prince and Alex Mills also sounds like you're in a car, so chronologically in my little made up party, it doesn't fit. Anyway, you're a manga styled cartoon and you're cruising down a neon highway. That's what this sounds like. By now the tempo has picked up (drum & bass doesn't count) and you can actually dance a little to the music. Woodpecker by Castelle is slightly sexy but still chaste enough to be clean and sparkling. He just wants a peck on the cheek. For some reason I see twinkling lights, girating platforms, lipgloss and platinum highlights for this section. 

Is it actually a fancy party if you don't have a 2000's Destiny's Child song remixed? No. I listened to My Breath by Adam K and my bank account balance magically grew a couple of zeros on the right. The sound of jewels, the peak of your evening where everything is aligned for a few minutes. 

There's a small little two-song tramline after that moment of perfection where I wanted to bring down the energy and give my fictional party atendees a moment to sit down, catch some air, or catch some smoke from one of those long cigarrettes as they're covered in their fake-feather coats in the terrace overlooking the city. 

That balance is broken with Lithium by Odd Mob, it couldn't be more 2010s UK only it's not even as old as it sounds (2017). But I'm all down for this type of sound, it reminds me way to much of teenage years not to feel nostalgic. In a way, it gives me the sensation of sounding childish, superficial and mainstream, but still sleek and lush. It's very odd (no joke intended). It wouldn't be my first pick at a party yet it's one of my favourite tracks on the list. 

It's not my favourite though, that comes two tracks later with Dancefloor by Puppy Mountain. I can't really say why because it has the exact same energy as the rest of the tramline, I guess that in a way it sounds a little more like hope? Yeah, that's a question since I'm not entirely sure if that's true. It also feels so simple but I stopped to listen to it in detail and I realised it has a lot more layers than what I initially perceived. That's always a treat, to try to peel them off one by one and then being able to hear them all at the same time but separately. 

You might think the next track is better, especially if you consider what comes after it. I did not have a clue what to do with the ending of this list. No jockey at the disc on this one. Those last two track make no sense. They still sound UK but they don't really fit the rest of the mood if I think about it and they're too upbeat for it to be the end. I've dubbed it my own coïtus interruptus.

The most annoying thing is that on its own, Knees Up by Obskür, is an insane track. It's objectively the best track out of the whole goddamn list, I just didn't know what to do with so much power in my weak little hands. 

Blast it.

More materials soon in blogs near you. 

Her Dark Materials: Spandex

As Olivia Newton John said back in 1981, let's get physical. And that is what we're going to do today in her dark materials the spandex edition. 

We all know that the material is used for working out, it's a heartrate of over 150 and jumping on the pads of your feet indefinitely. 

Rest is for the weak and shuffling songs is for the foolish. 

Like walking into a spinning class for the first time, there is a certain element of fear that goes into making/listening to this playlist. There will be no mercy or silence for the next hour and a half and you will struggle to keep up. This is because spandex represents the electronic music that reverberates in your chest and that gets confused with a splitting headache (in the most positive way possible). 

It is for this reason that I wanted to start with something familiar. For my sake, not for anybody else's, I'm the one that was feeling queasy about hitting it off loudly. You know what it is! by Jerb has this great sample of Wiz Khalifa's Black and Yellow. It's meant to make listeners think that although it is unknown territory, there is communion between this and the most mainstream music ever created. The song doesn't even start off that hard, it has this excellent build-up that acts as a warm-up for the next one. 

The first subset inside the set is made up of music I've been discovering recently, that is the electronic music which uses vocals from rap songs over the melody and works a treat. At times, I'll find full verses in the song so I've decided to dub it rap techno. Another subgenre of the Leviathan that is techno music. 

As I was making the list I realised how much easier it is to connect with some of these songs when they have at least some lyrics in them. Maybe it's the fact that it's such a machine-made sound that hearing something familiar and organic as a voice can bring it closer to us. This is not to say that I don't enjoy purely "instrumental" (that's so not the word) electronic music. 

Keep On by X CLUB. is particularly enjoyable for me because we're still in the part of the playlist where the aggressiveness is being turned up gradually and everything is still feelgood. In the middle it has these wave-like loops that are so fluid you can't help your shoulders moving along with them. If it's making me want to dance, it's a keeper. 

The feelgood vibes end immediately after that song and we enter the oh my word where the hell are we? part of the playlist. Samba Soccer 2001 by KETTAMA wouldn't have made the cut were it not for the fact that it samples a very popular yet very Spanish song. If you don't know it, it's fine, go on YouTube this instant and type in El Baile del Gorila - Melody. You're welcome. KETTAMA had the INDECENCY of using the English version. My brother, if you're going to sample such a track, use the original. By all counts, the combination of such an ugly loud sound should not work with Melody's artificially high-pitched pre-teen voice, but it does. So I added it. 

Once we reach TEKKNO we all know something is wrong. meet her at the love parade tekkno sounds so corrupt it should be illegal. Corrupt, in decomposition, just bloody wrong. Yet, it's screaming spandex at me and is at the heart of the list. The dj usually takes mainstream songs and just turns them poisonous with his terrifying techno, I was particularly obsessed with the version he made of A$AP Rocky's Praise The Lord. Have you ever jumped for 4:35 minutes non-stop? No? Give that a go then.  

What comes after that are a sequence of nightmarish hellsounds that reach their end in Rave Energy by Jhorman Peña, Niotech. I tried to keep it dark but bouncy although some parts are so dark that it gets a little daunting to keep bouncing. For example, MASSAGING ME by TRAYVP would've been put at the start of the list because it's perfect for describing this rap techno subgenre I was on about before but it's to fast paced and primitively loud that I couldn't fit it. It takes Massaging Me by Future, and in my humblest of opinions, makes it so much better. This is what the original should have been from the outset.

It doesn't get considerably lighter after that though, we're still not out of the woods. Nevertheless it's definitely a bit of a comedown. Songs get a tad more melodic and with SLIGHTLY less aggressive bpms. I wanted to finish on a more ethereal note (as ethereal as spandex can get) and added songs that had a bit of reverb and female vocals to them. Want U So Badly by KLOE just made the cut because at times I think it's too sweet for spandex, despite sampling vocals from the Black Eyed Peas. It's possibly my favourite out of the playlist which goes to show I haven't got a dark bone in my body and it's all persona. That harp in the middle of the track is the kind of quiet endorphin rush you feel when you're done working out.

More materials up soon. Rest yer ears. 

Her Dark Materials: Leather

Now that I'm done writing annoying Instagram posts* full of cheap philosphy and childish observations to hide the fact that they're just mediocre photographs I can get back to what really matters, writing annoying blog posts full of cheap analysis and childish observations. 

I've recently started a new playlist set and decided to do a little recap once I'm done with them. The folder is called MATERIALS and each list will have its own fabric assigned (a little wordplay with a massive techno club in Madrid - Fabrik). Each material will represent a certain type of electronic music. Kind of like word association but with clothes and beats. If you don't agree with what the material sounds like, tough, that's literally what it sounds like and I won't consider changing my mind. 

So, here is the first one. Leather. 

This goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway: No shuffling or skipping, there's a reason why they're lined up in the way they are.

 

Leather is a hot fabric, in every sense. You're going to be sweating your arse off the second you move in it and that is what this music feels like to me. Leather can also be quite stinky. This in my head translates into music that sounds a little dirty. 

Therefore, with this in mind I decided to kick it off slow and what I wanted listeners to feel was: Where are we going? Just so I can grab them by the ear and run towards the fantastic subgenre that mixes reggaeton music and repetitive harsh electronic beat. This is the new spawn of techno**. The ultimate club genre.

The CHIBI remix is the start of that little tramline. Esty can make the sweetest sounds that remind me a little to Billie Eilish only with more sass. She is the real latin urban ROSALÍA (I love her but she's from Barcelona, I don't care how much time she spends in Miami). Esty has that same softness to her voice but can kick you in the gut with a plotwist mid song that will floor you. I particularly like i 4got ur birthday. For the remix what they did was double that sass expresso. 

I tried to build on that same mood and reached a peak with Traaa by CRRDR. I listened to most of the stuff by the artist and it really is the heart of this subgenre. I decided to give it my all and turn up the heat with this slayer. It's fast, sexy and if you have the skill, twerkeable. I'm gonna ask for it the next time I go out and if I don't get my way I'll boicot the DJs night. 

Moving on from reggaeton but still keeping it a little nasty I added y u look so hawt by Bad Boombox and MC Young Lil. Self explanatory. Hawwwt. But I'll explain. It's quick, it's fun and the lyrics are always trying to seduce you with large pupils that gawk at you over a pair of grey 2002 plastic sunglasses. There is a call for sleeveless black t-shirts, long white socks and visible G-strings. Similar artists are MCR-T and Brutalismus 3000. 

One of my favourite tracks of the list is actually a little breather. Love's No Crime by Tino Troster is frankly excellent. Perfect for toning it down but still upbeat enough to make you stomp on that beat while the vocals tickle your neck. It could seem quite linear but it really is a joy to get through. 

After a few excellent tracks that serve also as a transition to a harsher electronic sound we arrive to a well known name in this subgenre of nasty techno. Partiboi69 as a must for this list and HOE has the perfet energy that fits in another little climb in speed and volume. The DJ is probably one of the first that I got to know that sounded dirty. It is less seductive than prior tracks but has a  badder energy. I feel in general, lyrics go very well with this kind of vibe and not many songs without them would fit the list. The vocals on this are the prefect contrast between a deep voice and a statement normally reserved for women. That beautiful duality you find in this nasty genre. Where genders mix and sexuality oozes in the music but it's all surrounded by a harsh beat that doesn't offer a single lull. 

The peak in volume and speed comes after that with Give Me Base by Noimage. I wasn't ready for these bpms and suddenly my little electronic session turned into a criminal aerobics class. But that's what it is. Nevertheless, for some reason it still feels dirty in the fun sense of the word. It's totally "leathery" and skintight. It's a good 5 minutes of skintight heat. But easy, you can calm down after this and breathe. 

Post almost throwing up a lung comes a few acid sounds here and there (still respecting the mood though). I love that sound beyond what I am capable of explaining. I cannot distinguish good from bad when it comes to those acid loops. Is it good or is it just really addictive? I am not going to lie I really needed to feel comfort after Noimage so I went to familiar sounds and slower bpms. The worst is behind us, sadly. 

I finish off with DJ in Berlin by 3LNA and P.vanillaboy which is still sexy but at the same time adorable in some form. It's what you want from goodbyes, to leave you with a good taste in your mouth and the affirmation that you had a good time. It's also meant to leave you wondering how the hell you clean sweaty leather. 

More materials up shortly. 

*I said I was done writing them, not posting them. Sorry. There's like six more to go.

**Techno is like the Greek god Zeus. Gazillion babies everywhere. 

Curtis

I was walking in the street last night and Atmosphere came on. For the first time in my life, I sincerely thought, another little push and I'd do it too.

How many pushes did it take Curtis?

Songs From Under the Metaphorical Spotify Stairs: Cheryl Lynn, Glenn Campbell, Manic Street Preachers, Frank Sinatra and Doves

Now that Cillian Murphy is all the rage again I wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone that not only is he a talented performer, with eyes of clearest blue and zero tolerance for the Royal Family, he also happens to have an exquisite taste in music. 

A few years back, BBC Radio 4 gave him his own show where all he had to do was play music he liked and talk about it*. I would do unspeakable, terrible atrocities for that same chance. (my post is definitely getting banned again by Blogger because of that sentence). *spends 12 minutes going over everything that could've possibly pissed the platform off in the last post*

Anyway. 

My point is, he has this section called Songs From Under the Stairs where he finds old gems that he kept in boxes under the stairs and he vaguely explains why they were important to him in the past. I'm stealing the idea and doing Songs From Under the...errr...Metaphorical Spotify Stairs. 

I thought I might put my Spotify saved songs selection on *gags* sHuFfLe, mainly to direct the choices and then if I'm inspired by what comes up I'll select my song. 

1. Got to Be Real - Cheryl Lynn

Remember the 2004 animation movie Shark Tale with Will Smith and Jack Black? I love that movie. I was nine when it came out and even back then I remember thinking certain parts of the soundtrack were fire. The song plays in that moment when Oscar gets access to the penthouse in the posh part of fish town and as the kids say these days, it slaps. I also remember discovering Get it Together by India.Arie and being obsessed with it. There was also a terribly catchy Justin Timberlake number that was made just for that movie (remember when Justin Timberlake and Timbaland were like siamese twins?). 

Looking back I was probably a little too young to be judging movie soundtracks but I distinctly remember dancing on the sofa to Got to Be Real and thinking "I'm gonna get my dad to put this on the iPod classic". 

I want to record this song as my first contact with disco music that was sought out by me and not because my dad wanted everyone up on a Sunday at 10am and decided to play Earth Wind and Fire full blast. 

2. Wichita Lineman - Glenn Campbell

 

I discovered this in 2009. So I was...*heatedly tries to do the very simple substraction in her head* fourteen (?). *Uses phone calculator just to make sure* Yes, fourteen.  If your whole teenage persona is constructed around listening to cool indie bands of the time and 70s angry punk, you don't really want to be caught listening to soft country music from 1968. But I was instantly captivated by this song. It sent me into some sort of weird nirvana state that I can't really explain. I don't even connect with the lyrics or anything, I mean, I had to google just now what a lineman actually does (it's someone who repairs the telephone lines in the middle of nowhere by the way). I'm ashamed to say, that at the time I hid away this information about my music tastes but I'm happy to have grown out of my pigheadedness and teenage phase. 

3. A Design For Life - Manic Street Preachers

I grew up in a very small place in the middle of nowhere. All I had for entertainment was reading, films, music and going for contemplative walks with the dog. As a result, I've developed a few compulsive hobbies and an inner monologue that won't shut the fuck up. Because I got bored so often I made up little games such as trying to recognise any artist on the family iPod within the first 10 seconds of a song playing. Doing this on shuffle was a little bit too hard for twelve-year-old me so I would go in alphabetical order according to song title. 

We had around 10,000 songs on the iPod at the time I recall so I would never make it past the C. What this meant was that I always did As and Bs. I did this at least once a week for years. 

As soon as A Design for Life comes on the radio, in a bar or in the goddamn supermarket I have to say out loud within the first 10 seconds "A Design for Life, Manic Street Preachers, NEXT". It's a part of me now. It also happens with Abel by The National, A Bomb in Wardour Street by The Jam, Absolute Beginners by David Bowie, Accidents Will Happen by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Acrobat by U2 and many more that forever live inside my brain in a tiny box labeled "the result of teenage boredom. This way up". 

4. The Nearness of You - Frank Sinatra

On one of the rare occasions that my Granny came to visit us in the middle of nowhere, back when I was a small child still, she brought me a gift. She thought I would enjoy a double album of The Essence of Frank Sinatra. If I think about it now it's very comical but it's also as endearing as anything can get. I can just picture her looking at the album and thinking "You know who would love this? Our wee eleven-year-old Caoimhe over in Spain". And to be fair, I did. Immediately. Frank Sinatra's voice is just so warm and steady that's impossible not to enjoy. I have to thank my Granny from the bottom of my heart for the album because she opened a world of music to me. And not just Sinatra, through her I have found a love for Irish folk, US country, blues, rock and roll and swing. 

5. Meet Me At the Pier - Doves

Doves is music that I never fully enjoyed when my dad played it at home. On some level, I think I found it cold and devoid of feeling. As I've grown older though, I wonder if I've grown colder or if my mind just perceives much different levels of emotion. Because in the past few years, everytime I've had an internal crisis, Doves has been there to pick me back up. To remind me that there is beauty in feeling grey and that there is nothing wrong with being a little cold from time to time. Meet Me At the Pier is an instrumental that feels like watching a lonely tear falling down a cheek in slow motion for 3 minutes. And the beauty of it is that it's always been there, playing in the background in my parent's house and I would go upstairs with my discman and listen to something else to drown this "boring stuff" out. As usual, my dad was on to something here, I just clocked on a bit late with this one.  

*I'd like to reinforce the concept that what he does on the show is just talking. I mean at one point he says something along the lines of "Well this album was released in... I think... 2005" and I'm just sat there listening to that thinking, bro, Google it. What do you mean you think it's 2005? Just Google it. Was it 2005 or not? Although, being who he is I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know what Google was in the first place. 

Boston has good music taste... most of the time

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Decent recent finds: Am I in a good mood or did I stumble across El Dorado?

Remember that Simpsons episode where Homer scalds his mouth and his tastebuds become hypersensitive so everything is excruciatingly tasty for him? I think I burnt my eardrums.

There are certain moments in life when everything just feels new to me. And it brings with it a fair amount of surprise and an ounce of relief. Not unlike a much-needed fresh breath of air or waking up from a hyperrealist nightmare. As of now, for reasons I cannot explain, I can almost hear colours and reach out and grab atmosphere in between my fingers. 

This can happen after going through a harrowing experience (first-world harrowing experience, not applicable to actual harrowing experiences) or after having swam in intense joy for a continuous period. So when I go through a five-day depressive episode and then twitter off to the middle of a mountain for four days and listen to top-tier live music, my brain has trouble readjusting. The lower you go, the higher the rebound will be. *lies face-up on the rings of Saturn spinning like a record*.

In just two days I seem to have fallen in love on Spotify close to fifteen times and the euphoria isn't fading away, which makes me wonder if I have actually struck gold and should make an El Dorado playlist. 

So help a temporarily judgeless couple of ears. 

1. Broadcast - Barney Bones

I don't even remember what I was doing. I don't even remember where I found it. It came to me and stayed, sort of like when a stray cat appears on your doorstep. Congratulations, you are now owned by a cat. I am owned by Barney Bones' Broadcast every day of the month now. Returning to the concept of the rings of Saturn, if I could hear what a perfect circle sounds like, it would be this song. There are so many elements and they're undulating in and out like they've been doing that for all of eternity. 

The song is part of his new EP ESCAPISM which I listened to back to back in full delirious starvation mode trying to find more songs like this on it. It's a decent EP and he has a couple of catchy collaborations with Channel Tres and Duckwrth which are also worth a couple of listens. Please do listen to his remixed version of DRAMA's Tighten It Up. A little early 2000s disco vibe that is what anybody could ask for. 

2. 100 Degrees - Quinn Oulton, Reuben James, Linden Jay

UK angel-voiced Reuben James has basically decided not to give me a moment's peace. He recently released the album Champagne Kisses with CARRTOONS which already earned him a podium spot in my July with the precious Time Will Tell. But he's not satisfied and has to go and release this... I don't even have words for what this is. It could just be the piano and I would've been hooked, but the voices and those sweet ways of altering them exactly how I like it. It really is just me asking these three guys if I can get my heroin shaken not stirred.

The piano sounds like something out of the last century and lets itself be carried by the lo-fi beats that are so present in our day and age and by God do those two decades work a treat together.

3. wake up - _tillus

You have no idea how strongly I feel about this song. I don't even understand why. For some reason, the track seems to connect past and future bringing out moments from my life and joins them like an infinite pointed star. And at the same time the beat grounds me to the earth beneath my feet and brings me down to this precise instant. It's trance-like and under no circumstance want to be woken up from it. I need it banging from my tonsils and reverberating down to my sternum and into every single nerve under my skin forever. For two days now it has been itching behind my ear and won't stop. But then again, I might be delusional so who knows? 

I knew _tillus, from a couple of collaborations with DJ upper class but they weren't anything like this. Some of them were even slow lo-fi, full of the white noise some people use to fall asleep. As a result of finding wake up I decided, again in full ravenous mentally unstable creature mode, to explore everything he has ever put out. I found Augustiner Hell (the Trance Edit) with herr ulrich which also sent me spiraling into another galaxy. It's harder stuff, not for the faint of heart. And I found another one of my romantic interests in this euphoric state of mind: Dabei, _tillus in collaboration with German rappers Joeii and Kuba. I am aware that this one is not as good but German soft rap is my weakness, so for me it is. 

4. Be Thankful For What You've Got - Orgone

The best soul songs manage to take your heart in the most gentle embrace. That's exactly what Be Thankful For What You Got does. And if you're not sure, just wait until minute 5:00 and listen to that trumpet sing to us, like trying to play beside a sleeping baby's crib. It's a song for summer and it's a song for resting the spirit for a little while. I am 100% certain that I'm not delusional about this one. 

It's an excellent cover version of the original 1974 track by William DeVaughn. I first knew the song through the outrageously fun remix by David Todd which embues it with a completely different meaning simply through his rework of the beat. 

This version clearly wants to transmit the same message as DeVaughn and croons to us that you should be thankful even if you're not a gangsta. I want to go beyond and say that some of the Cadillacs are fools' gold anyway. 

The Angelino band Orgone, is obviously influenced by 60s and 70s funk and soul and have also done covers of famous tracks Do Your Think (Isaac Hayes, 1971) and I Get Lifted (KC and the Sunshine Band, 1975). 

Soul music was born to be covered. 

5. Hammer - Alice Phoebe Lou

How am I meant not to fall in love when this girlie popped out a no-skip album (Shelter) that might leave me in a beauty-induced coma and send me into the middle of next week?

This song in particular has a lot of those folky touches that she's been using in her music lately and they form a very specific image in my head. 

The image is a canvas of a bar beside an empty dark road in the heart of the night. On the other side I can see a wheat field and a massive full moon is painting it silver. In a corner of the painting, there are two lonely coyotes nesting and one's head is on top of the hind legs of the other.  The coyote is almost smiling in its sleep and its lip is curled under one of its fangs. I can see muddy paws and white fur in the underbelly. Alice Phoebe Lou's voice is the breeze on the blades of faint grass.

I can also see inside the bar and it's made of dark wood. It has wooden panels, and wooden chairs and wooden tables. It has a flickering red neon sign on one of the windows that calls out to beer lovers like a siren's song. Behind the bar there is nobody serving drinks and the lights seem to fade out, except for one yellow spotlight falling on a man. He is in his early 60s and has white hair that escapes the sides of a baseball cap. He has a bushy mustache but a two-day-old gray beard, all under a round nose that lets out soft snores and two pairs of eyelids too tired to open. He has one of those stomachs that you only get if you visit a bar every day for a few hours and reddish skin with tiny broken  purple veins that proves the point. He is sitting on one of the stools beside the bar and Alice Phoebe Lou's voice is the bubbles floating up to the brim of his beer glass. 

If the song were to go on for another three minutes I imagine I would be able to see what happens in the parking lot behind the bar. It's a powerful thing that music can evoke such detail. 

I think she's gold.