Friday 17 February 2017

new (and old) music friday #14: prides, ralph, neon trees. all time low

seeing as it's been nearly a month to the day since my last post, i suppose some form of catch up is in order. i had a good few weeks of productivity at the start of the year, somehow managing to post every week, but my old, lazy self has returned, and struggling with a lack of self-motivation to start my final uni project, i've spent the last two weeks on an emotional roller-coaster of films, having watched trainspotting 2 (if you haven't seen it, please do; i cried actual tears in the cinema and have no regrets), moulin rouge!, brokeback mountain, jenny's wedding, australia and pretty in pink in the space of two weeks. i also went to an excellent music conference at my uni, which featured viv albertine of the slits, miki berenyi from lush, and femme (whose video for light me up i featured in last year), all discussing their experiences being women in the music industry. 

on wednesday i watched the NME awards and was devastated that the 1975 didn't win best band, album or track (somebody else) (i mean!), losing out to biffy clyro of all people, though the behind the scenes pictures of him were a nice consolation. however they did win best live band, and call me biased but matty's speech was excellent; only he would use the word "didactic" while collecting an award shaped like a middle finger, glass of red wine in hand.(side note: will we ever see the full videos for she's american or loving someone anytime soon?? the wait is killing me.) it was also incredibly disappointing that david bowie didn't win hero of the year, losing out to beyoncé, and though a worthy winner, i'm surprised the readers of NME voted for her.


and of course i discovered some new music that has brought my motivation back from war, so here goes. 

1. prides 

honestly i have no idea how this one happened; i was on youtube and found myself watching an acoustic performance of touch by little mix, and one of the suggested videos was the latest single from scottish indie trio prides, who i saw support the wombats back in 2015. their full-length debut, the way back up, had been sitting in the "your music" section of spotify ever since, but it was only after hearing away with the night the other day that i gave it a listen, and i was not disappointed. this is feel good electro-pop at its finest, and every song gives me goosebumps. i'm still getting into their back catalogue, so this list is subject to change, but my favourite tracks so far include tinseltown in the rain, little danger, i should know you better and an excellent cover of roxette's 1987 hit, it must have been love

2. ralph 

i have noisey to thank for this next one, as they introduced me to canadian artist ralph. i was instantly hooked by her song tease, but when i listened to her older songs, i recognised one titled something more, released in 2016, though i can't recall exactly where i heard it. i was struck by its lyrics and how they describe my current feelings towards my life and the people in it. at 20-something, feels like losing forever she sings on the chorus, and though i think everyone my age feels somewhat lost, i feel it now more than ever as i try to work out what's really important to me. here's hoping that 2017 brings a full album of her 80s-inspired pop, as well as new music from lorde and the light of my life, harry styles (!!!). 

3. neon trees 

last night i watched me him her, which is summarised on IMDb as follows: "twenty-something drifter cory arrives in los angeles to help his semi-famous TV star friend brendan take his first steps out of the closet" and though it only has a three star rating, i thoroughly enjoyed it, developing a crush on lead character emily meade almost instantly. though the film was a comedy, it was great to see gay and lesbian relationships portrayed somewhat realistically, and the soundtrack was excellent too. 

the final scene featured sleeping with a friend from neon trees' 2014 album, pop psychology. again, it's an album i've been meaning to listen to ever since its release, and like their earlier songs, 1983, animal and your surrender (this remix, and the film it features in, are both wonderfully cheesy), it retains their upbeat pop sound. highlights include love in the 21st century, unavoidable and the hauntingly beautiful voices in the halls. (i also really loved this article about lead singer tyler glenn and his coming out.)

4. all time low

this one was also a complete accident. though i mentioned the pop-punk quartet in my last post, this discovery was completely unrelated. i was using spotify on my (new!) phone (i finally upgraded after three years of iphone 4-based hell) and aimlessly browsing through my saved music, when i saw all time low in the "A" section. long ago, i'd saved 2011's dirty work, and as soon as i saw the track listing i immediately remembered why. though i'm much more inclined to listen to pop these days, this album still appeals to me for that exact reason. more accessible than its predecessors, tracks on this album could easily have been released by one direction circa 2014, and certainly wouldn't seem out of place on midnight memories. 

though a tiny part of me cringed inwardly, i pressed play on guts, which at the time was my favourite track on the album, and i instantly found myself singing every word. funny how my brain can remember lyrics from songs i've not listened to in years, yet i struggle to remember what i did in the last week. it also brought back a flood of memories, from queuing in the freezing cold waiting to see the band live in 2012, to the exact moment when i heard guts in all its glory. other standouts include just the way i'm not, a daydream away, forget about it, no idea and that girl

this week's playlist can be found here; it's a super-long one that features a backlog of songs from the last two weeks that i was too lazy to write about.

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