Harkive 2017

Here we are again, another Harkive and another excuse to use this blog and pretend that I still update it regularly. If my memory serves me right this is the fourth Harkive I've done (2013 being the first), and whilst I can't promise that anything exciting will happen today or that I'll listen to anything unusual and worth writing about, hopefully there will still be enough tracks to make a decent blogpost and perhaps even a playlist if I feel so inclined.

It's currently just gone midnight, 00:09 to be precise, and I've just gotten back from seeing Dune (dir. David Lynch, 1984) in the cinema. Whilst it isn't commonly regarded as his finest work, this is probably the fifth time I've seen it this year alone, and that must be worthy of some sort of award. Annoyingly, this year's Harkive has come at a point where I'm stuck in a bit of a rut with the music I listen to; I haven't discovered anything new for ages and seem to end up listening to the same ten songs over and over again for hours at a time. Two of these songs are Echo Beach - Martha and The Muffins and I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) - Daryl Hall & John Oates, and they are also the two songs I have listened to so far today. Just a warning - this post may end up looking like the track listing of an 80s hits compilation album by the end of the day.

It's now nearly 12:30 and I'm just about to head into town to run some errands and mope around Selfridges for a while. I intended to go out earlier but spent the two hours after I woke up at 8 listening to Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre. As I was getting ready I put on Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's self titled debut album - because if it isn't from the 80s and it doesn't have a synthesiser in it - I'm not interested.

On the bus I listened to The Associates - a band I discovered in a Popular Modernism lecture at uni this past spring, and was frankly horrified that I hadn't ever listened to them before. Sulk has become my go-to album for when I don't know what to listen to, and today is one of those days. I didn't listen to anything whilst I was out and was instead treated to whatever background pop the shops and cafés had playing. Sometimes I'll get lucky and somewhere will be playing a song I love, but I wasn't so fortunate today.

It's almost 20:00 and I should probably put the oven on and cook something for dinner. Instead, I'm halfway through the Kraftwerk 3-D Catalogue that I've listened to almost every single day since I saw them at the Royal Albert Hall last month. It really is a brilliant album.

23:43 and Harkive 2017 is almost over. I watched several episodes of Seinfeld whilst I had dinner, and now I'm currently listening to some Suede to work out how to create a dumb Twin Peaks meme video I just thought up. It worked, and you can watch it on my Twitter here.

And that's a wrap on Harkive 2017! I'm editing this post the day after and I can't remember if I listened to anything else after I spent the best part of ten minutes editing the Suede song He's Dead to a clip from S3 E11 of Twin Peaks. As always, I never know how to finish these apart from with some drivel about how I absolutely 100% will start writing on here again and never do, so, see you in a year.

Harkive 2016

It's that time of year again! Harkive has once again snuck up on us and given me a reason to resurrect my blog for the day. It's currently 00:36, and I've spent the past half an hour uploading photos to Flickr and listening to various Kate Bush songs. About ten minutes ago I changed to The B-52's and as I write this I'm currently bopping along to Roam, the third single from their 1989 album Cosmic Thing.

01:00 and I've ended up listening to Billy Idol. I think I need to go to bed.

Stayed up until 05:00 (it's 10:58 now) watching the last season of US Queer as Folk so naturally I've awoken with the frankly awful theme music stuck in my head. I have no idea what it is but let me tell you - it's bad. I did have plans to go back to London today but faced with 32 degree heat I've elected to stay at home and try not to expire from heat exhaustion. Expect lots of Christmas songs about winter and being cold later.

14:40 and I'm trying to decide what to have for lunch that involves minimal prep and cooking because I do not have time for that in this weather. It only feels right to include one of my current fave albums in today's listening, so I've stuck on Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. It feels apt for my life at the moment since all I do since breaking up from uni for the summer several months back is sit around and think. I did so much sitting around not really doing anything that I forgot to get a ticket for her show at Somerset House last week - I'm still gutted.

For the first time in years my room is the coolest room in the house so I've escaped back upstairs after a bowl of noodles. It's now 16:00, and I'm still listening to Courtney Barnett. I've decided that her music is the perfect soundtrack for a sunny heatwave day. The bad thing about the summer is that I feel so inspired to create things (be they art or music) but I just can't be bothered to do anything. I like to have something to do whilst I listen to music but I can't think of anything to do today except have a nap.

With nothing better to do I ended up watching 13 Going on 30, 12 years after I watched the first 10 minutes of it before the on demand on our NTL box died (those were the days...). The soundtrack is fab and has made me really want to stick on a Talking Heads record and steal the t-shirt one of the characters was wearing. I've just put Veruca Salt on after hearing Lillix's What I Like About You in the film - a total blast from the past and possibly one of the best songs of 2003? Maybe that's going a bit too far but it's certainly a banger.

It's 21:43 and the day is drawing to a close. I couldn't do a day documenting the music I listen to without including at least one Sleater-Kinney album, and have decided to go for One Beat since I've had Combat Rock stuck in my head for the past hour. After The Woods it's probably my most listened to album of theirs. I recently bought the 33 1/3 Dig Me Out book but am yet to read it as I keep re-reading Carrie Brownstein's memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (which I highly recommend).

As expected, I fell asleep sometime around 23:00 after listening to more Sleater-Kinney and watching a bunch of YouTube videos. This is a bit disappointing as I was hoping to get a few more hours of listening in before midnight but I do actually have things to do today (Wednesday) so maybe it's for the best.

Le Nice

At last I have reached the pinnacle of my writing career. For the first time something I've written, about something I love, has been emailed off and featured in a magazine. The feeling of seeing your name on a page is one that can't be beaten. That page is one of the pages of the fabulous new magazine Le Nice. It's a collaboration of all things wonderful and contributed to by wonderful people.
A few weeks (or months) ago the idea for this magazine was born, and although it sounded like a great idea to me to write something for it, I honestly had no idea and when I did get an idea it took me the week of the deadline to finally put finger to key and type it up. I decided to play it safe and write about something I've written about many times before - music from our wonderful continent of Europe. You can pretty much guess what I included if you've read past posts on here. I must admit, I did have some hang ups about writing about the somewhat unknown bands that I love, purely because I don't want to share them but at the same time I want everyone to like everything that I do. It's complicated. However, I sent it off anyway and now I am a published writer at last. I feel honoured to be able to be part of something that I know (or hope) is going to be great and take the world of journalism by storm. Here's hoping the editor of some super-hip German culture magazine reads it and offers me a job....

Le Nice can be read here and the accompanying playlist to my article is here   for your listening and reading pleasure.

New Sounds from Denmark: Seven - Vinnie Who

Now I know what you're all thinking, and yes this is yet another post about wonderful Scandinavian music. Once again I have travelled to Denmark in search of cool new tunes, and boy have I struck gold. This however was almost completely by accident, and with all new/old discovery posts - there's a story to go with it:

Sunday night - November 9th. A seemingly normal evening until I logged onto Facebook to discover a new post from Soundvenue (which is safe to say served as my bible back in 2010) with a link to the new single from Denmark's Vinnie Who (aka Niels Bagge Hansen). What followed was 3 minutes and 31 seconds of pure dreamy bliss that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but also reminded me of lazy summer evenings and that feeling you get when you've had a couple of glasses of wine and become very affectionate towards everything. With vocals that I can only describe as creamy and a beautiful melody that almost sends you to sleep (but in a good way), 'Seven' is fast becoming my favourite single of the year and is a sharp contrast to the more pop-py, disco synth-y sounds that can be heard on his first album. It's a welcome change. Of course, not to say I don't love the likes of 'Remedy' et al. but sometimes it's nice to have something softer to listen to, y'know?

'Seven', I believe, is the first single from the third Vinnie Who album, due out in early 2015, and if it's anything like that, I can't wait. Of course, as with all good things those of us who live outside of Denmark and continental Europe will probably have to wait 6 months or so to be able to listen to it - let alone buy a physical copy. However, I have high hopes and I'm sure it'll be fantastic. For those of you who want a slice of the action right now, 'Seven' is available to listen to on soundcloud via the Soundvenue website and will be available to purchase worldwide from Friday 14th November. Enjoy. 

Yugoslavia? Yugosuaveia...

I'm not entirely sure how I ended up last Friday night listening to various new wave tracks from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but I'm glad I did. Once again I was on the search for new things to listen to, whether they be rock, pop, or another genre entirely. It seems I've left the 90s world of britpop and fringes behind (only briefly I hasten to add) and have found myself in need of synth solos and questionable music videos. But this time I sought to find something different to the usual synthpop/new wave tunes I know and love. Something unlike anything I'd listened to before. What happened next is a bit of a blur - partly because it happened at about 2AM and partly because in periods of excitement I seem to forget everything. For some reason I decided to read the Wikipedia page for Yugoslavia, and then decided to visit this page on it's popular music (I thoroughly recommend visiting that link - hours of fun to be had). I'm no stranger to music from Europe. Who can forget the days of Oh No Ono and all those other Danish bands I used to (and still do to some extent) adore; and through studying various languages I've used music as a way to understand a country's culture and further my knowledge of the language in question.

After studying various Wikipedia pages in various levels of depth I turned to YouTube to try and find some of the songs and artists that had been mentioned. I chose bands that I thought sounded interesting based on name and what their style was described as and ended up exploring the music of Dorian Gray and Električni Orgazam, among others. Despite not understanding any of the lyrics due to my lack of Serbo-Croatian language skills, I thought they were great. That night I listened to a handful of songs from various artists and two Električni Orgazam albums which surprisingly are available on iTunes. I also watched the 1981 film "Dečko koji obećava" (The Promising Boy in English) which served as a showcase for various bands of the new wave and punk scenes. Spoiler: it's very very good. A band that has really stuck with me over these past few days is Film, a Croatian rock group who formed in Zagreb in 1978, and who were also one of the most popular groups in Yugoslavia in the late 70s and early 80s. They also supported Lene Lovich (whom I love a lot) on her 1980 Yugoslav tour. Unfortunately I haven't been able to track down any of their albums yet and have been thriving off singles for the past few days. Specifically the 1982 single "Zona Sumraka" or Twilight Zone in English. When you start to sing along to a song that isn't in a language you know it's probably a sign that you've listened to the song in question too many times...

I've only been listening to this stuff for a few days so it's hard to write a full post on it, but my first impressions are that if I ever manage to get my hands on a time machine I am 100% going back to 1980s Yugoslavia (if not to just experience life in a Socialist state...but that's a story for another day). I'm sure I'll write another thing about this after I completely exhaust everything the internet has to offer and end up booking a flight to Croatia to try and find some records, but for now - doviđenja!

Summer vibez

At last! The summer holidays are here. The time when once again I can stay up until 6AM watching The X-Files and listening to dreamy music (and not doing the summer work I've been given). However, as I am at last nearing the grand old age of 18 this is to be my last summer holiday that actually involves school, for next year I shall be heading off to university or quitting education altogether and becoming a penniless artist on the streets of some European city (I haven't quite decided which yet). Last Friday I visited the Universität der Künste in Berlin and it's safe to say I've fallen in love with it. It was their annual 'Rundgang', a three day event where you can wander around the university and look at the student's art, see the studios, and get information on applying. As time restraints meant we could only go to the main building in Charlottenburg, I didn't get to visit the Visual Communications faculty and only ended up seeing the Fine Art faculty. I'm incredibly glad though - all the art was amazing and 100% the stuff I'd like to end up making in the future. As I sat in the courtyard drinking a very refreshing bottle of lemonade and trying to translate the information sheets I'd been given, I suddenly realised that I don't really want to do fiddly complicated things with computers, I want to paint and be expressive and do drawings and sculptures! Thus, I shall be applying to study Fine Art instead of Visual Communication. (The language requirements are also a lot lower.....which is a relief.....). Sadly I was only in Berlin for two days, and didn't really have time to wander around leisurely and explore, and when you're there with people that have never been before all they really want to do is go to the iconic (and very busy and touristy) sights such as the Brandenburg Gate and the East Side Gallery. Nonetheless, I did enjoy going back to these and seeing them in nice sunny weather rather than the -14 degrees C temperatures of the last time I visited. It also made me realise that I need to brush up on my cycling if I'm going to live in a city where at least 80% of the population cycle, and that I'll probably need to cycle everywhere to burn off all the delicious (and very cheap) food from Back-Factory.

I don't really have anything else planned for the summer, apart from a few exhibitions, lots of TV-watching and once again trying and failing to learn the guitar. Speaking of musicy things, I've noticed over the past few years that my taste changes according to the seasons. (I've tried to write my reasoning for this about 20 times and I can't put it into words it just doesn't work.) In the summer I tend to like things such as:

• 60s bands such as The Mamas & The Papas 
• Dreamy shoegazey things
• 1990s American alt-rock indie stuff with guitars
• Surf rock

I think that's sort of made it a bit clearer....maybe....it's still only a very, very brief list. I think it should be noted that my favourite band at the moment is Pavement. For the past two years or so I've listened to them (fyi: only during the summer) but it's only really been their singles and most popular songs. There's some bands that for me never really 'click' until a certain time. It happened with Pink Floyd, then Manic Street Preachers, and now this. (Maybe my brain gradually becomes more receptive to things over time and it needs little bits here and there to really like something. I don't know.) The other week I decided to look past the singles and venture down into the world of album tracks, and boy, am I glad I did. It's dangerous for me to write about things that I'm really really into; I'm so blinded by love that I can't seem to write anything coherently that isn't extraordinarily biased, so I'm going to stop here and say that my current fave album of theirs is Terror Twilight and it's pretty much all I've listened to for two weeks and that you should definitely check it out. I might chuck a few songs in at the end of this post, just like I used to do back in the old days......

In other news, Treefight For Sunlight's second album 'Pizza' is finally being released in the UK! If anyone's been here long enough to remember when their first album came out, you'll know how excited I am for this. However, if it's anything like last time we'll get given a different album name and artwork.....(still not bitter about that). They're another band I like to listen to at this time of year. If 'Come Closer' isn't on all your summer playlists you're seriously missing out. I'll hopefully have a review type thing up next week. I'm trying to get back into those..... Speaking of which, I'm toying between changing up this blog and starting a fresh with a new one. A more grown up one. After all, this has been going since 2009, and although the style and quality of posts has changed (for better or for worse, you decide) and is slightly more professional, I'd still like to start over again and have something that I wouldn't mind showing off and not living in fear that someone will find my old posts from back in the day. I could always delete them though......but can I bring myself to do that? 

I'm rambling again, aren't I. 

 

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...

Music, again.

Remember when I actually used to post quality things? Me neither...


OK, so I promised you an update-y post, and this is sort of it - but not really. This is just another whiny music post that I used to make thousands of 'back in the day'.
As you may've grasped (if you follow my Tumblr/Twitter), my music taste changes very rapidly, and eclectically. I get bored incredibly easily, and I need to switch things up from time to time. This can get quite annoying, as I'll spend £££ on CDs/iTunes buying stuff by a certain band/genre - only to discover a few months down the line I barely listen to them.

As 2011 rolled into 2012, I was in the middle of a prog daze. I was obsessed with Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP, Genesis, King Crimson, etc, and everything else was irrelevant. But then I started to get fed up with it. I simply didn't have the time for half-hour long organ solos anymore.
 So I went back to my beloved Pulp (who are my all time favourite band if you didn't already know. And I'm 110% sure when I say 'all time favourite'.) I hadn't listened to them since September/October, and it felt good to be back with Jarvis and co. It was familiar, sexy, light-hearted, and more importantly - didn't take all day to listen to. And I lapped it up, every minute of it.

But then something changed (unintentional Pulp reference, I'm sorry). I clicked on a Jesus and Mary Chain video. I'd attempted to listen to them before, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, I didn't like it or something. I can't remember why. But this time, something clicked. I LOVED it. Where had this band been all my life? Why had no-one told me about them before? I liked what I heard, so I explored deeper into their discography.

The rest is just a blur.

All I know is that I'm now in love with The Jesus and Mary Chain (and Jim Reid. I MEAN WHAT.)

I've lost track of what I was talking about now...


Yes, that's right, I remember.
If you'd asked me in November/December that in a few months I'd be listening to JAMC, and the other bands I'll mention later, I'd probably have laughed in your face and told you to get on your bike. Or not, I don't know.
That's what I like about my music taste, how varied it can be. I go through phases, I never like one thing for an extended period of time.
When I was listening to all this prog stuff, I did actually feel out of place amongst other fans. I wear mostly black, have short-ish fairly "wild" hair, and I never lusted after men with long hair (as a good 70% of the female prog fangirls on tumblr do...). I value these bands more musically than anything else, and listening to them has had a great impact on the music that I make, and how I view certain things.
It did make me feel like shit a lot though, as I gave up piano lessons after two yeas and no grades, and I'm not a fantastic musician at the best of times, and 'idolising' these musicians was making me want to cut my hands off.
But how I see it (however corny it may be), is that that was one chapter in my life, and now I'm onto another (I'm sorry this is so cheesy I'll be getting the pickle out in a minute), and an accumulation of all of these "chapters" (shoot me, please) will shape the person I'll become in the future. (fuck.)

Deep stuff, man.

But, yeah, that aside, here is a list of the bands that I'm listening to at the moment:

-The Jesus and Mary Chain
-Sonic Youth
-Echo & The Bunnymen
-Aztec Camera
-The Pastels
-The Cramps

And probably more that I can't remember.

This post got a little too deep at the end for my liking, so I'll leave it here and run out the door not to embarrass myself further. I never was any good at conclusions.


Tumblr : televisionsick.tumblr.com  

Day 11 – A song from your favourite band (+bonus story thing!)

Just in case you hadn't already noticed, Kraftwerk are my favourite band. I first knew who they were back in 2000, when I first heard "Expo 2000". Even today, that song sends shivers down my spine. It's not my favourite, but it's a brilliant, brilliant song.
My love for Kraftwerk only really fully developed about a few months ago when I found out I'd be going to Germany. I decided to listen to some German music, and I put on "The Model" because it was the only Kraftwerk song I knew well. After listening to it several times, I decided to look at the recommended videos in the sidebar and settled on listening to "Die Mensch Maschine". I instantly knew I'd found a band that I'd love for life. I spent the entire night on YouTube, listening to songs and watching videos. Then, the next day, I downloaded (almost) their entire discography. I was suddenly overwhelmed with this beautiful electronic music. It was like nothing I'd heard before. To be honest, I actually cried when I listened to a few of their songs, just because of the sheer beauty and magnificence they held. These beautifully orchestrated synthesisers made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I couldn't believe that I only knew one song by them. How had these four brilliant men from Düsseldorf passed me by? Why hadn't I bought all their albums years ago? Why wasn't I born several decades earlier, and in Germany?
I started to save up to buy their records. I was planning to start with "Autobahn", and move along in chronological order until I owned every single album - in English and in German. But alas, I still don't own any records. I'm hoping I might get one for my birthday, along with "The Best of Kraftwerk Songbook" and Wolfgang Flur's book, ""Kraftwerk": I Was A Robot" - two books I simply have to own (!)
I'm starting to agree with people now, and admit that I'm slightly obsessed...
If I were to explain everything I love about Kraftwerk, then we'd be here all night, so I'm just going to put up all of the songs that have videos to go with them.
But before I do that, I think I'll have to thank those four brilliant men from Düsseldorf, because they have just been a massive influence on me, and if I'd never gotten in to Kraftwerk, then I wouldn't have discovered other brilliant German bands like NEU!, CAN, Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream and all the other Krautrock bands that I have grown to love. So Dankeschön, Ralf, Florian, Karl and Wolfgang.
(The original line-up of Kraftwerk, for those who are unaware.)

If there is mecca, then it is The Kling Klang Studio - Mintropstrasse 16, 40215 Düsseldorf, Germany.
(Yes, I know the address. The actual studio isn't there anymore. They moved a few years ago, but this is the site where it was during their "heyday", as some might say.
















 These were the only ones I could find with embed codes.

Ich liebe Kraftwerk

Day 10 – A song that makes you fall asleep

...And now we come to the post where I can share beautiful music with you. Nothing is more beautiful than a bit of Krautrock - especially when it's done by Kraftwerk.
OK, so not exactly Kraftwerk - but the band that they were: Organisation.
I'm actually itching to get my hands on a copy of "Tone Float", but being super rare, it's also super expensive. A mint-condition copy sold earlier this year for £400 odd.

The song that I've chosen is actually the band's name spelled backwards. I just find it a lovely instrumental piece of music, and it's probably my favourite track from the album.


Organisation - Noitasinagro


It just makes me feel wonderfully drowsy and dreamy.

And that organ part... 

Day 09 – A song that you can dance to

Let's face it, who can't dance to this! I'm a Mod at heart...


The Lambrettas - Poison Ivy 


Have another one, because I couldn't decide what song to choose!


Cross Section - Hi Heeled Sneakers


And with clips from "Quadrophenia"! I really am spoiling you tonight.

We are the mods, we are the mods, we are, we are, we are the mods!

Day 08 – A song that you know all the words to

Should I be ashamed of this?


Wham! - Wham! Rap


Well listen Mr. Average - You're a jerk!

Day 07 – A song that reminds you of a certain event

Pretty standard story behind this one. It reminds me of the countless train journeys I've been on, because I always play this song.


Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express


Did I mention I can play this on the keyboard?

I really like the video of this one as well. They look HUMAN. They even SMILE!

Ich liebe Kraftwerk! 

Day 05 – A song that reminds you of someone

I'm going to be really soppy and say that this song reminds me of my mum, because she likes it.


Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine


Decent tune.

Day 04 – A song that makes you sad

I honestly have no idea why this makes me sad. I think it's the lyrics and Andy's voice that does it. It does something to my brain that just goes "ujhesdgauhfoivnjiushtpgvb" and I'm jelly on the floor. Oh, and there's a saxophone bit. Saxophones do a lot to me. I just love their sounds.


Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark - If You Leave


Of course, this song was featured in the film "Pretty In Pink". I can't remember where exactly, but it's there - apparently. I've only ever seen the beginning of it!

Day 03 – A song that makes you happy

This song makes me quite happy, partially because it mentions cats, and partially because it's quite upbeat and I love the piano. And I quite like The Cure. People say my hair looks like Robert Smith's. (But not in this video). I don't think it does, just sometimes I overdo it on the hairspray and it goes all birds-nest-y.


The Cure - The Lovecats 


Don't you just find the piano and bass absolutely brilliant?

Day 01 – Your favourite song

This isn't necessarily my favourite song, but it's the most played song on my iTunes so I guess I like it a considerable amount! I am somewhat of a Duranie, but not a lot. I like their music, I reblog the odd pic on Tumblr, I stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch the live stream of their show at Coachella... but I'm not an extreme fan.


Duran Duran - Rio 

I drew the album cover of "Rio" the other day: I'm quite pleased with the result...

30 Day Song Challenge - in one day

I'm going to attempt to do the 30DSC in one day, what a challenge!

Wish me luck, and get ready for SPAM.




I just love that picture so much.

Another list

This time it's my top 5 bands/artists. For real this time. This is the absolute final one!

1. Kraftwerk
2. Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark
3. Japan
5. David Bowie

OMD!*, I love OMD**!

(*"Oh My Daze!" A phrase used amongst pre-teens and un-cool teenagers (I am not either). An alternative to "Oh My God!"

 **Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, frequently abbreviated to OMD because it's just too long otherwise!)

My calendar is telling me it's Monday, so therefore it's time for some music. As you may've guessed by an earlier mention, today's music is courtesy of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark. But no, it's not just one song... I'm going to post all the ones I love by them, so be prepared for a treat!! Here we go... 1...2...3....4.....

Maid of Orleans 

Electricity 

Enola Gay



Locomotion 



Telegraph



Messages 



Souvenir


I think that's all of them. There may be a few edits to this post if there are any I've forgotten, but I doubt it.