Harkive 2013

A few days ago I was alerted to a rather interesting project called Harkive. For those unaware of what this is, it's a project that aims to create a unique snapshot of the listening habits of music fans all over the globe (you can find out more at their website here). Since I had nothing planned for the day - 9th July, I thought why not give it a shot, and made a mental note not to listen to any embarrassing early noughties pop hits...

My day began at about 1AM. I had intended on waiting until the morning, but since I was still wide awake with nothing to do (and no hope of sleeping thanks to this dreadful weather), I decided to stick a record on. Deciding what to play was a no-brainer. Pulp's His 'N' Hers (deluxe edition of course, we all love a b-side or two). This is one of those albums that you can get lost in. All the tracks flow so wonderfully that they seem to merge into one - especially when it's fairly late and you're delirious with the heat. Or maybe I've just played it so many times that I know the track listing off by heart and can tell you the order the songs come in before the needle's even down.... (I must confess, I haven't listened to Pulp much since I saw Suede back in March, something seemed to happen on that night that left me pretty much unable to listen to anything else but them for over three months, but I'm sure there'll be more on that later.) The latter half of the record, that incorporates The Sisters EP  and a selection of wonderful b-sides, demos, and BBC sessions is probably my favourite. His 'n' Hers (from the Sisters EP) and Street Lites (b-side to DYRTFT?) are most likely my two favourite Pulp songs, and will forever bring back memories of the train journey up to Sheffield to see them back in December 2012. Sadly neither were played, but it was probably a good thing for the sake of my health...I probably would've died and that's not an exaggeration. By the time the record finished it was almost 3, so I decided to leave and attempt to get some sleep.
After a hard morning of drinking absurd amounts of coffee and online shopping, I returned to my computer to find I'd been asked my opinion on Supergrass. Of course, this meant listening to Caught By The Fuzz and Diamond Hoo Ha Man multiple times. That being said, the piano on St. Petersburg is still one of the most incredible things I've had the pleasure to listen to and has been on my ever growing list of songs to learn for the best part of four years. But then again, I say that about the majority of songs with fantastic piano parts... Natural progression led me to Supertramp at 2:15PM. I realised after several plays of Take The Long Way Home (ooh feel the harmonica) that this wasn't where I wanted to be and decided to return to the world of daytime TV for my lunch. If the Gladstone Brookes advert music was available on iTunes, I swear to God it would be #1 in my top 25 most played songs.
At around 4PM everyone arrived home and I retreated upstairs to escape the obnoxious children's TV themes that make every weekday afternoon so special. Much to my delight, my neighbours had decided to stick Cotton Eye Joe on very loudly; so loudly in fact that it was like it was being performed live in their garden. I fought back with Suede's Dog Man Star. Again, deluxe edition for the fabulous extended Stay Together, the phenomenal Killing of A Flash Boy and Whipsnade, and the original unedited version of The Wild Ones (to this day I have no idea why they cut out the magnificent guitar at the end). However, about half way through Black or Blue I felt the need to play the guitar and spent the rest of the afternoon stumbling through The Lively Ones' Surf Rider and watching surf rock covers on YouTube. A fair amount of ooh-ing and ahh-ing over jazzmasters happened too - I would happily sell all my possessions just to be able to hold one for an hour or so. Especially if it was in seafoam green...or the new aztek gold....(the list of guitars I want is almost as long as the list of songs I want to be able to play on them.) I eventually returned to Suede - the lure of The Asphalt World and the previously mentioned original unedited version of The Wild Ones was too strong, and the glory of the guitar parts made me go weak at the knees. I've listened to them both over 100 times by now and I still don't know how it's possible for a song to be that great. (I would also sell all my possessions for a guitar lesson from Bernard Butler....could you imagine).
At 9PM I was still stuck in the Suede hole, and it didn't look like there was any hope of escaping any time soon. This time it was Coming Up. If I had to pick a favourite Suede album, this'd probably be it. It's hard to describe a band/person you've become infatuated with without sounding extremely soppy and a bit daft, so I'll cut to the chase and say that Suede are fantastic and the best live band you'll ever see. Ever. I don't think a day has passed where I haven't listened to them since I went to see them at Alexandra Palace back in March, and I've not shut up about them either... Every track on Coming Up is magnificent in it's own special way, even the likes of She and Starcrazy, both of which seem to get a lot of stick from the fans. The best tracks on the album are almost definitely Picnic By The Motorway and The Chemistry Between Us. What I wouldn't give to hear them live....perhaps in Birmingham on October 31st?....*hint hint*
(I could end up writing a whole essay dedicated to my love for Suede and this album, but since this is supposed to be about all the music I've listened to today and I think I've already gained a reputation in certain corners of the internet for being "obsessed" (pffftt), I'll move on.)
I finally found my way out of the Suede hole and collapsed into the arms of Donna Summer at around 10:30. If there's one thing I love more than britpop, it's disco "and other funky things". I can frequently be found weeping over Funkadelic's Maggot Brain and wishing I was able to replicate the awe-inspiring bass lines of Chic songs. I'm also partial to a bit of ABBA, especially the long version of Eagle (ooh the synths). After Donna had finished doing her thing, I switched to Boney M. I'm determined to open a discotheque one day just so I can dance around and sing Sunny without getting funny looks from people (and dress up in shiny clothes and spandex (oops)). Next year I'll be studying the history of Russia, and I can guarantee all my lessons will be spent humming Rasputin and trying to quietly tap my feet under the table. Boney M naturally became Chic and suddenly it was like Studio 54 in my bedroom. Anyone who watched their performance at Glastonbury this year, either live or televised, is aware of how great they are and how much of a legend Nile Rodgers is. The amount of foot-tapping and chair-dancing that happened that night left me sore the next morning, and the amount of jealousy I felt for the lucky bastards who got to go up on stage with them at the end has never been felt before. As the day drew to a close, Chic were still playing and I didn't want to interrupt the funk. So, I decided at 11:30 that that was it and decided call it a day. Everybody Dance seemed like the perfect thing to finish on, especially as I'd always imagined it being used in the closing credits of a film...

So that's it! Doing this was much harder than I had anticipated; I never usually put much thought into what I listen to or why, but today it seemed I was making a conscious effort to listen to certain things and think about why I'd chosen them. One thing's for certain though, I probably listened to more spotify adverts than I did actual songs...