T-Shirt Weather and Sunshiney Tracks

Hello warm weather lovers,

Well, those of us graced with living in the southern hemisphere are probably ready to peel the warm jumpers and jeans off our frozen bodies and thaw out with the spring sun. It's time to revamp, time to recuperate, and time to embrace the spring sun.

Well, why don't we do that with our music as well?

I find as the weather gets warmer I like to listen to songs that remind me of long summer drives and kicking back in the sunshine. I do a seasonal spring clean of my playlist as much as I do with my wardrobe, so here's a small playlist of songs that I'm bringing in to bring some sun into my life.

T-Shirt Weather by Circa Waves

Here's a fun little track that I've been loving recently. It's long summer car road trips to me, in all their burning glory.  They're a British indie-rock band formed in Liverpool. Their debut album was released earlier this year in titled "Young Chasers". Definitely check it out, it's got that youthful British indie sound that we all know and love. Keep an eye out for these guys, people riding in my car will definitely hear a lot of Circa Waves over the next few months.


Rock It by Little Red

An oldy, but a goody. Rock It is a classic summer song that has been played many a time when I am craving sunshine and lazy afternoons. This song has been on my summer playlists for years, it's a boppy track that helps me keep the warmth in my heart when it's looks nice outside, but it's almost as though the weather needs a little pick me up track to get the heat going. This is the sun's pump up track, I'm sure. We all know Little Red; the Melbourne band rose to the Triple J fame in 2010. Unfortunately for us, Little Red split up three years ago. Doesn't stop this song keeping the warmth in my life during the winter-spring transition.

Bullit by Watermät

Okay, so you know those songs that you hear everywhere but never really know who sung them or what their names were? This song was one of those for me until I found it again a few weeks ago. HOLY MOLY. Summer anthem much? This song was so big a few years ago, and I think everyone knows why. It helps you forget that winter is a season that exists. Endless summer in my ears. Forever. Basically, just proving that the French do everything right when it comes to electronic music, producer and artist in every sense of the word Watermät (or Laurent Arriau) brings summer vibes that pretty much ruled all the music charts in 2014. Love it. Bring on summer.

Hope you are showing a little more skin and embracing the changing seasons!

Keep it real,

Kristen

#ThrowbackThursday - Spotify and Dream Indie Pop

Hello friendos,

I'm back in the world of listening to music! I used to say I don't really have time to enjoy music anymore, but I've just discovered "Spotify Premium" (Not a sponsor, this is out of the expense of my own wallet *sob*). Which is fantastic really, I have all this music at my fingertips and I really can listen to as many songs as I want without all the hassle of transferring onto my various devices or using the dreaded iTunes rigmarole of buying each song I want individually. The Premium feature really is just an added bonus I've decided to fork out for because I a) have limited data on my mobile devices and b) I HATE advertisements.

The only downside, I've discovered, is that if I want to listen to T Swizzle's 1989 I have to load it up from my CD. Oh well, it's totally worth it for the ease. I think as I've gotten older I've just given into paying for convenience, rather than slogging it out like I did in my youth to save a few cents. For example, I drive now (hence my Spotify Premium comes in handy), but whereas I'd take the bus everywhere and save myself like 40c (+ the daily cost of fuel) and get some much needed fresh air and exercise walking from stop to stop. I now pay a little extra out of my own pocket just so I don't have to deal with the patrons of public transport. Fellow citizens, comrades in arms, but the enemy when considering I could spend the the 20 minute commute in solitude with my rad tunes blaring out to the loudest possible volume my speaker system can handle.

So, in this vein, I'd like to Throwback to this awesome little song from 2011 that reminded me of those peaceful summer days of bus riding and lazy afternoon walks home.

Jona Vark by Gypsy and the Cat

Mmm this song is so sweet. Sounds like something like a mix between Fleetwood Mac and Icehouse, with a simultaneous MGMT feel. I remember belting this sweet tune out in car rides and when dancing alone in my room. In fact, I still do. Gypsy and the Cat are an Australian band made up by Melbourne boys, Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers. This is a reaaaal sweet sounding track with some of that dream indie pop that I crave whenever I'm feeling down. I generally like most of Gypsy and the Cat's music and I encourage you to check out their album Gilgamesh (on Spotify or iTunes, whatever you like really :P). 

Anyway, that's all for today,

Lots of love,

Kristen

A Going Away Playlist

Well, I mean, I'm not going for good.

I'm on vacation for the next month or so, so  I thought I'd send myself off with a fun little playlist of the 5 top songs I have been listening to non stop in the lead up to this adventure. (Now, don't judge me... these songs are so catchy and dance-y, you can't help but absolutely get into a nice groove and dance yourself on holiday)

So, in no particular order, here's 5 of my favourite songs for my summer European get-away.

Shut Up And Dance by Walk The Moon

This one is really catchy, reminds me of a modern take on 80s pop. I love this one, it's probably one you're going to hear on radios everywhere right about now. I think its such a cute little song, and the music video is pretty cute too. The dance moves are rocking and the hairstyles need work, but I mean, that's pretty much my life story so I guess that resonates with me the most. 

Papaoutai by Stromae

Oh man, this is a powerful one. I don't speak French in the slightest but the music video speaks for itself. There's no denying that Stromae is a musical genius, take a look at Tous Les Mêmes. His music videos are always super on point too. The musicality is genius, but also the pain behind the song speaks across the boundaries of language.  I feel as though my words cannot even do this song justice. Just know that I have it playing on repeat. Although I do like Tous Les Mêmes, Papaoutai is my favourite one of his songs.

Magic by San Cisco

A bit lighter, something that I find quite enjoyable and fun. Mainly because I have a thing for cheesy horror props and cute love stories. The song itself has a catchiness about it that I can't deny, however, the music video sold it for me. This one was won out purely because of Nosferatu driving the Lamborghini and moon walking. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the kind of kitsch that San Cisco is putting out these days.

Pray To God by Calvin Harris, featuring HAIM

Okay, this one was won out despite the kick ass music video. I am officially a HAIM fangirl. Paired in with my love of electropop, come on, how was I going to leave this song out? Okay, so it's a bit old now, but as per usual, I have just discovered it. Non-stop music for working out. I feel like I can kick serious butt when listening to this song, it's really empowering. Lets be honest though, most HAIM songs make me feel that way, I don't know why the addition of Calvin Harris made this one any different.

Ship to Wreck by Florence + The Machine

Okay, I'm a bit torn about this one. The same level of feeling that Ceremonials had somehow cannot be matched by Florence's current album. Ceremonials had something in it... a deep melodic soulfulness that reminded me of prayer. However, this song comes close to capturing the essence I felt before. I will probably never be able to fall in love with this song the way I fell in love with the whole of Ceremonials, but damn, I think I'm close. This song is one for the repeat, until I know how I properly feel about it. 

Well, I guess that's about it. This and a whole lot of Fleetwood Mac, but I'm sure those of you who know me well enough know that I could probably dedicate a whole blog to The Mac. They are love, they are life. Now to work out whether or not I want to spend the upwards of $200 to go see them in concert. Decisions... decisions....

In the mean time, I'll be on vacation!

I hope you all stay safe and have a great next few weeks of break.

I'll see you when I get back :)

If you would like to keep up with my travels, my travel blog can be found here. I hope to be updating it daily, and when I can't, there is always my Instagram and my Twitter that you can keep up with.

Lots of love,

Kristen

Blog Diversion... For Now

Sorry for the lack of updates friendos.

Have been working on another blog for an assignment. You can check it out here and raise my page views and leave comments if you'd like!

https://televisionbroad.wordpress.com/

Sorry about the delay in blogging!

Hopefully I'll be able to update soon :)

Kristen

Boom! Dynamite!

Hello friendos,

Sorry about the delay. I've hit a wall in terms of course work and life stuff. Unfortunately that means weeks and weeks without some musical enlightenment from yours truly. Usually, when I'm busy like that I don't listen to a lot of music, I get distracted very easily so I tend to sit solemnly in silence with my headphones on, keeping my ears warm. I look studious and tuned in, really, I'm just counting the seconds till I can find something to distract me. So, inevitably, I have returned to you, humble blog. The mountain of assignments and commitments are piling up. So, let's talk music.

My taste in music is very similar to that of a 40-50 year old. I'm not trying to be pretentious, contrary to popular belief, I just know all the words to ABBA. It's the music that I've grown up with and love. Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Duran Duran, and Crowded House always tend to find their way into my head and stay there. Tie in some 80s techno pop and you've pretty much got a whole snapshot of my playlists at any given time. However, when  I find a song that I feel matches up with that level of catchy-ness, I'm more than happy to add it to that playlist. That is totally how I feel about this week's song. It is such a lovely song from some really humble roots. I honestly wish this song was less underground. It's totally dynamite!

Dynamite (feat. Allday) by Asta

Seriously, Asta is such a dynamite gal. She was the winner of Triple J Unearthed High in 2012, so she's still pretty young, but fantastically talented. In this song she teams up with Allday and brings you one of the grooviest songs of the year. I'll be seriously disappointed if this one doesn't make it onto the Hottest 100 this year. The song is powered by some awesome notes. However, we're let down by Allday. Seriously man, we give you an inch and you take a mile. His verses fall flat and seem a bit disinterested, I think it's all the hype surrounding him getting to his head. I'm not going to go into any more of my Allday bias, however, Asta totally kills it. Who needs Allday anyway, I wanted some more verses from our young, talented songstress. Her vocals are so on point. It's a really simple song and sounds fantastic in acoustic. Not too flashy, yet still a catchy earworm that will have you hooked. It's only got 67,000 views on Youtube at the moment, which is  darn shame. This girl needs more attention! She's fantastic!

I'm giving this one 7.5 "Boom!"s out of 10.

Lots of love,

Prospector Kristen

Holy 80s Throwback Batman!

Hello everyone!

Delayed blog post, so very sorry for all two of you that read it. You know who you are.

This week a lot of my time has been spent watching The Sopranos and toying at the idea of productivity. A lot of toying with the idea, believe me.
In coming weeks, I will predict several states of meltdown and some scattered crying sessions. But in the mean time, let's talk about the music. Which is what we are here for, after all.

This week, I struggled to find songs to review (in truth I was half way through Season 1 of The Sopranos and totally forgot I had to post a blog), so I'll be reviewing something that was recommended to me by a friend.

Certain musical genres have stood the test of time, you find them evolving and changing throughout the eras, but they have more or less stayed put as popular genres with characteristics known by all. Rap music, Pop music, Rock music all have characteristic sounds and feels. So when I heard this song, I pretty much was zapped right through a time machine to an era of 80s cop shows set in Miami (a genre unto itself, believe me).

Alfonso Muskedunder by Todd Terje

Honestly, I thought music like this had died out like handlebar mustaches and grown men wearing those tiny, tight shorts. Thankfully Todd Terje is bringing back all of the nostalgia, but none of the mental scarring.

The song is a nice eclectic mix of modern electronic beats and that classic television show theme music that we all know and love. It's got a real classic feel to it, that bass line throws back to all sorts of coolness and vintage suave. My experience of this song was sitting in a vintage convertible, driving around the streets of Miami and looking off into the distance dramatically every now and then to get some good focus pulls. I am a Miami Cop. I do have a handlebar mustache and aviators in this vision. 

Although, I'm probably to weak and tiny to take down any bad guys, I feel as though Todd Terje really succeeds in making me feel like I could. This is the theme song for my non-existent career in law enforcement.  Time to change my name to Alfonso Muskedunder and practice sliding over the bonnets of cars. This one is definitely making it on my driving playlist.

8 "Doughnuts and coffees to go" out of 10

Love,

Alfonso Muskedunder; Miami P.D.

"The Music of the Future": A trip down memory lane with some funky new beats.

Hello my darlings!

Welcome to another week, and another review.

Over the past few years, since the whole hipster "movement" sprung up into this weird subculture of arts, music and fashion. There has definitely been a shift in definition of what we consider hipster.

Well obviously, there's the tartan,the beards, the non showering,  and the frames without glasses. But we see new things coming in trend- minimalism, stockings with faces of cats on them, socks with frills, chia seeds... the list goes on and on and on.
Unfortunately, as a cat, sock, and seed enthusiast, this has really cut in on my street cred and wallet (curse you hipsters with your abundance of disposable income and cute fashion! *shakes fist in anger*). However, I will maintain that my room probably belongs on a reality tv show about hoarding. It's really getting quite bad; I collect too many nick-nacks. Minimalism will never be a thing with me.

In the same way, we see music change. First it was banjos, then experimental noise and base drops... where the future will take us, we can only imagine.
That's why, today, I'd like us to look into the future and try and figure out what will come next in hipster music. We're looking at:

Way I'm Lovin' You by Klue

Klue: Is this what the future of indie music sounds like??

What is surprising me now-a-days is the influence of old school funk into new school indie music. The Way I'm Lovin' this song is intense.  I actually quite dig this catchy tune.(Damn, does this mean I'm turning into one of them?!) It's got a glitchy sense to it, it's repetitive and staccato, with a strong flavor of soul. Reminiscent of Jungle and Rudimentals' use of funky beats in their electronic music with a more techno vibe. I feel like a middle aged woman revived. Not only am I able to listen to something that sounds like the music from yester-year, it's mixed with some sick DJing skills that keeps me feeling young and spritely.

This is some hip music of the future, I know it, I'd keep my eyes and ears out for more funk and blues in indie music in the future. This will definitely be the next big thing.


7.5 "Asking a hip youngster for technological help"s out of 10


Lots of love,

Kristen