What the Funk?!

So, just in case you haven't been tuned into Keeping Up With Kristen's ridiculous music taste for a while you may have missed that huge funk obsession I went through earlier this year with Jungle. I thought it was over, I thought I had moved onto bigger and better things. But give me a slap bass line and I can feel The Funk rising up again.

So when Triple J and world renowned bae, Chet Faker, released his new funky single a last week in collaboration with London producer Marcus Marr I just about lost the effing plot.

*insert fangirl squealing here*

Unless you've been living under a rock over 2014, you no doubt would have heard of Chet's soulful style. The velvety rumblings of his vocal chords had entranced the entire nation and our hero took out the top of Triple J's Hottest 100 for 'Talk is Cheap' earlier this year. Well ladies and gentlemen, he's back.

Faker (actual name Nick Murphy) announced earlier this month that he was to release a new collaborative EP some time in December. This short and sweet four track EP is called Work and is going to be the resulting love child of a long musical crush between these two musical masterminds. The newly released track Trouble With Us has set my head into a tizzy, and I'm telling you now. You HAVE to hear it. It's so unlike anything that Chet Faker has produced before, this fun, upbeat, funky track has pretty much slap bassed all over my heart strings.

It starts of so simply, the track's sound is very clean and fresh. When you hit that chorus you're bopping already. It's a nice build up and release of a crescendo of funk. I think what I love the most about it is that it's so easy to sing along to, as well as the fact its so completely different to everything we've heard from Chet Faker's studio album Built on Glass. At the same time, I love when a musician shows us this kind of range. I mean, it still sounds like Chet Faker -  it is his distinctive vocal velvetiness that I'm fawning over, but Marcus Marr's sweet, sweet, bass line almost shows us a different side of what collaboration could mean. It's like when artists do covers and mess around with different types and styles of songs; we learn that they're more than just pretty faces, these guys have talent. What the best thing about it is, it's such a fun track, I love dance driving to this one, and I'm sure the people at the traffic lights appreciate my sick moves too.

So, if you see me around bopping to an unknown beat, be assured, this song is exactly what's been on my mind. Check it out, tell me what you think.

For more information and tour dates, check out the Triple J website.



Kristen

Oh Lordey!

I think I'm getting to that stage now where I find it really strange to see younger people everywhere becoming more successful than I ever could be. For a long time, people younger than me were children, mere babes freshly out of the womb and exploring the world with wide eyed curiosity and lack of fine motor skills. Child prodigies aside, it's been weird over the last few years noticing kids that seem hardly out of diapers doing fantastic things.

Lorde is one of those said toddlers out on the rise, creating some amazing, unique music, and to be honest, I'm really jealous, but really proud as well. Who says our generation is full of talent-less hacks? They're wrong. We've got oodles of talent, and I'm quite content saying that someone younger than me is more talented when that person is Lorde.

Oh Lorde

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (Lorde for short) is only a year younger than me, and if I'm perfectly honest she is going to reach heights that I will never even closely accomplish. The talented Kiwi songstress is only 18, yet for the last few years her songs have topped charts globally and dominated my playlists. Her latest collaboration with the electronic duo Disclosure has been on my mind and my lips for the last few weeks.

Magnets by Disclosure featuring Lorde has been a real hit all over the airwaves since it's release. Despite the backlash coming from the music video depicting some mature scenes, I feel like this is the next best step for Lorde, she's growing up - why can't her music grow up too?

I love this song, and the music video. There's something magical about it. Plus, it contains some saucy video footage of Iddo Goldberg, my big crush from the Secret Diary of a Call Girl days. Regardless, I find the musical integrity of Lorde's unique style is never compromised in this particular track. The lyricism and the soulful purring that is the sound of her voice makes this sound like it's a Lorde track, not a Disclosure track. The only tell-tale sign of a collaboration is the electronic beat, and some of the repetitiveness. Although, to make any song popular in mainstream media, you're going to have to employ both those elements to reach that wide audience. Despite this, my favourite lyric so far has been the "pretty girls don't know the things that I know", that coupled with Ella's kooky dance style in the music video has endeared me to this song wholly.

I love Lorde for many reasons, for one, her hair is very similar to mine! I do admit, I've felt really quite inspired and have been leaving my thick, wavy, locks out in all their frizzy and voluminous glory as a sort of homage to Ella. She's young, she's talented, and to be honest, she is definitely our next "it" girl. All eyes are on Lorde now, she's definitely going to be creating many waves with her beautiful music over the next few years. I'm quite excited for what the future brings.


xx Kristen

Crushing Hard

I think for most of us who were teenage girls, we fondly remember that celebrity crush that we went crazy for. It's just a part of growing up. Like you see those tweens with their crushes on Justin Bieber or One Direction, it's something to be expected. Your heart beat quickens when you hear one of their songs, you get a massive grin spreading across your face when you watch a music video.

For me, it was Jesse McCartney with Beautiful Soul. I still belt that song out every moment I hear it on the radio.

But now, as I get older, I rarely feel that oom-pah-pah in my heart about any music. You know that feeling? The one that makes your soul feel like its flying out of your body or that grin that slowly spreads and fills your body with warm happiness.

Well, that was until I laid my ears on Vance Joy.

Look at that face! Who wouldn't be in love with this total babe?

His 2014 album Dream Your Life Away has been the soundtrack for the past year of my life. What can I say, I'm crushing. Hard.

Basically, if you haven't heard the album yet or want a taster of what it feels like to fall in love, check out this song. It's my current favourite.

Although, to be completely honest, I discover a new favourite song from the album each week. There's something about the lyricism and  the shakiness in his voice in some of the lines that just gives me shivers every single time. I feel as though he sings to your soul, they're love songs all of them, and for some reason I feel like he's singing them to me.

He's also a complete babe, if you haven't seen his music video for "Fire and the Flood", what have you been doing?  All those dreamy stares down the barrel of the camera.... ah, my love.

As far as teenage heart throbs go, you wouldn't be hard pressed to find me pining over this guy had he been around and popular 5 years ago, holy moly, I'd have pined so hard.

Vance Joy is a gift to girls everywhere, and his music is a gift to the soul. If  you've watched these videos I'm 100% sure that you'd agree with me.

As far as heart throbs go? What's been pulling on your heart strings as of late? What music has been giving you that oomph that only a realllyy good song can?


Lots of love,

Kristen