Music Diary Project Day 6 (09/04/11)

Spotify starred playlist on shuffle for about 15 minutes. Young Galaxy came up twice and I enjoyed both songs so I definitely need to listen to the whole album. Also got "Tog" by Colourmusic.

After that I was out for most of the day. I heard a lot of music along the way, of which the below is only a selection of the most notable. I do find that I almost always notice background music, but getting a chance to note it down or remember what it was is another matter!

Chapel Club/The Drums (in pub bit of gastropub)
Lots of very low key triphop and soul (in restaurant bit of gastropub)
Numerous buskers, including an impressive beatboxer with an amplifier near South Bank
Doves - "There Goes the Fear" while getting a drink in EAT
Alexis Jordan - "Happiness" / Aqua - "Barbie Girl" / Spice Girls - "Mama" very loud, in a new Mexican restaurant.

Music Diary Project Day 5 (08/04/11)

Hot Horizons - "October"
Tall Ships - Tall Ships EP / There is Nothing but Chemistry Here EP

Checking out new bands on the way to work. Hot Horizons on this evidence seem to be treading similar ground to Trophy Wife to slightly lesser effect, but I love Tall Ships' combination of downtempo, fairly minimal songs and early Biffy Clyro guitar riffs. Later have to conduct some research on the Tall Ships album from 2009 that Spotify has to make sure it isn't the same band and I don't have to disqualify them from my new bands playlist.

Olivia - Greatest Hits (Disc 2)
For my journey home, a Japanese album bought on a whim in Hong Kong which turned out to be really great, at least for Disc 2 (which I think is the B-sides, maybe, but is much better than the straightforward rock of Disc 2). Probably closest to Ellie Goulding, if she'd carried on being as good as "Under the Sheets" suggested.

Chapel Club - Palace
Epic Echo & the Bunnymen / early U2 indie which I actually like a lot, despite not having that much time for anyone else doing it. Listened to this at home before heading out.

Departure DJ set
A night at a bar in Camden which apparently plays 'Dark Wave, New Wave, Industrial, Synthpop, EBM, 80s'. Was there because other friends were (including the DJ) rather than for the music, almost all of which I didn't know. There was an excellent more industrial remix of Editors' "Papillon" though, during which I had an enthusiastic conversation about how good their last album was.

Music Diary Project Day 4 (07/04/11)

Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
For my journey to work. I like this album a lot more than I expected, appreciating its dramatic sweep without descending into pastiche or being too over the top.

A few tracks on my mp3 player on shuffle
To fill up the remainder of my journey. I do like that my journey to and from work is usually about the length of an album.

Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
While doing some work. I think this was actually a bad choice as it proved to be a bit distracting, or maybe that was just down to the work in question.

Adele - Someone Like You
On my way out of the office to get some lunch this was blasting out of someone's car at full volume, sounding distorted and a little unpleasant. The song itself as colossus bestriding British pop remains baffling.

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
On my mp3 player on my way home. Made a mental note to myself to play it to my girlfriend again at some point as we are going to her gig at Shepherds Bush Empire next week.

British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall
Once I got home. This choice was partly dictated by having one hour to fill and nothing else recent that was long enough (as you may have noticed, I spent most of my time this week listening to quite new music, which is typical). I listened while reading/playing Don't Take it Personally Babe, it Just Ain't Your Story. I spend a fair bit of time listening to music while playing video games and usually it's the music which takes priority - I think I get some of my more concentrated listening done while playing stuff like FIFA and Street Fighter IV, and if anything having my mind mostly elsewhere actually helps me to win more at them asthey become more instinctive without concious thought getting in the way. In this case though, playing something very text and narrative heavy, combined with listening to something which I'm already very familair with, meant that there was a point where I realised that I was barely taking in the album at all.

MTV Hits - various top 40 songs
I had MTV Hits on the TV for about an hour while washing up, browsing the internet and sorting various things out. Much of the channel's schedule is now taken up by runs through of videos for the top 40 in order, which is the best thing to have ever happened to it - the democratic old Top of the Pops / chart show format has long been my preferred way of taking in chart music. You get to hear more different songs and if there's something unlikeable it feels better to blame the public at large rather than some unknown playlist selector's taste. It would be better still if the chart wasn't so slow moving these days though, and I do have to turn off when it gets to Jessie J because there is no way I'm listening to "Price Tag" again.

Xposure on xfm
For about an hour and a half. Nothing which really stood out as great in that time which I didn't already know, but there was a rather lovely live version of Elbow's "Some Riot".

Music Diary Project Day 3 (06/04/11)

Katy B - On a Mission
On the way to work, since I didn't get to give it a proper listen the previous day. A few amazing songs (not just singles) but a lot of it still passing me by so far.

Einar Stray - Chiarascuro
Amazing Norwegian post-rock-meets-Sufjan-Stevens debut which was well worth the 20 quid I had to pay for the CD. Listened to while working.

Adele - probably something from 21
While browsing in HMV at lunchtime. Sounded quite a lot like "Chasing Pavements", but wasn't.

Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
Again while working. This has nothing as absolutely perfect as "Starlings" or "Great Expectations", or... half of Asleep in the Back, but that would be asking a lot, and I still love it. Competing with the aforementioned Einar Stray for favourite album of the year so far.

Various tracks from Spotify starred playlist, on shuffle
Couldn't make up my mind what to listen to on the way home.

Xposure (xfm)
For about an hour and a half while doing various things in the evening.

Day 2 (05/04/11)

Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel
On my way into work, my first listen to the album that I bought at the gig. Very much as expected, which is a good thing.

Elbow - Ticker Tape
Patrick Wolf - The City
Guillemots - The Basket
Delays made my journey a bit longer, so I listened to the last few mp3s which I'd bought - the new singles (or B-side) of three of my favourite acts and among the few that I would bother doing so for.

Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face
New album (well, it was released last year but has been rereleased and put on Spotify) which I listened to for the first time based on this piece and its mention of recommendations from a couple of my favourite bands. I liked the arrangements and the obvious depth and care that went into them, but wasn't so sure on the songwriting or singing. Will give it another go at some point.

Katy B - On a Mission
Another new album through Spotify Mobile which I listened to on my way home. Didn't quite get all the way through it and didn't form much of an opinion yet.

Hannah Peel - The Broken Wave
Listened to once I got home while on the web/playing games. On my own in the room. Lovely album which the previous day's gig made me want to go back to.

Oh Land - "Sun of a Gun" x3
I wanted to check that my thoughts on the song from listening to it on the album would stand up to concentrated listening before submitting my review for The Singles Jukebox (they did), and I needed to check the exact wording of a line that I was quoting.

Emmy the Great - First Love
Followed on from the indie folk of the previous day, but also a choice influenced by a discussion with my girlfriend about British people who are part-Chinese (she had been reading Matt Tong and Alexa Chung interviews for her PhD), and because she was in the room so I wanted to pick something she would be happy to listen to as well. I love this album a lot.

Xposure on xfm
Listened to this for about an hour, it's the only thing on xfm that I will listen to but is very good for new indie stuff. The highlight was the gorgeous new single from Clock Opera, "Belongings", which was played immediately after The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's "Belong".

Music Diary Project day one (04/04/11)

Hi everyone! I really wanted to take part in Nick Southall's Music Diary Project. This involves writing down all of the music that you listen to for a week (and trying not to let your choices be too affected by the fact). Luckily I already have this neglected blog handy to write it up in! Day one is a bit late as I was out last night (as you will see) but this is what I listened to:

Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love
I listened to this album for the first time, during my commute into work. At the start of this year I signed up to Spotify Mobile and it has had a big impact on my listening habits as I love listening to new music and now can read about something intriguing, set it in my 'starred' playlist and it will almost instantly be available to listen to on my phone wherever I am. I think I still actually buy the same (large) number of CD albums as previously, but listen to many more and make a lot fewer bad purchases. In this case the title track appeared in Sweeping the Nation's Spotify playlist for the month and I'd never heard of it, looked it up and it sounded intriguing. It turned out that it indeed was, psychedlia which wasn't all possible to process on first listen but which I will definitely come back to.

Kassidy - "Stray Cat" (from Hope St.)
Connan album didn't last the whole journey and so Spotify went on to the next thing on my playlist. I put this whole album on after seeing a friend of a friend talking it up on Facebook, but it turned out to be horrendous landfill indie of a kind I thought was dead, and I didn't make it through more than one song.

Niki & the Dove - "DJ Ease My Mind"
Instead I went on to this to fill the last minutes of the journey - from my playlist of stuff by new acts. Owes a lot to The Knife, but really great regardless.

Oh Land - Oh Land
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
I listened to both of these on headphones while working. I usually listen to one or two albums a day at most as I don't like to keep dipping in and out of an album and am not usually concentrated on doing on single task for that long, but when I am I find it easier to do so with music.

Something I didn't recognise which may or may not have been Macy Gray / someone whistling the World 1-1 theme from Super Mario Bros.
The soundtrack to getting my lunch.

Braids - Native Speaker
For my commute home. I have listened to this album a lot and it's one of my favourites of the year. Quite annoyed that I will be away when they play in London next month.

Conquering Animal Sounds live set
Various folk songs I didn't know, and a very proggy instrumental version of "Scarborough Fair"
Hannah Peel live set
I went to the Lexington to see Hannah Peel. I had never heard of the support act Conquering Animal Sounds but they were really impressive, building looped voices and keyboards into fragmented but increasingly powerful songs which also just about fitted the folk theme of the night. I bought their album before I left.

It was the first time I'd seen Hannah Peel and things took a while to properly get going, not helped by the drums being overpoweringly loud in such a small venue. Strong voice though and the quieter songs lived up to her excellent album. I love her music box playing too - such a clever idea! Also a neat bonus to see Laura Groves (aka Blue Roses) as part of her band.