It is that time of year. Time for more countdowns of the best of ‘09. Today we are counting down The Best Music Videos of ‘09. Ten of them to be exact. As well as checking out the countdown below, let us know what your favourite video fo ‘09 was. Enjoy.

#10- Lily Allen – F**k You

This Video was something a bit different for Allen, with the whole video shot from her perspective. Directed and created by three Frenchies Arnaud Boutin, Camille Dauteuille and Clement Dozier.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 4/5

#9- La Roux – In For The Kill

The 1980s-inspired video was directed by Kinga Burza and produced by Sarah Tognazzi. A very simple yet dark and mysterious clip, with some nightrider overtones.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 4/5

#8- Bat For Lashes – Daniel

Directed by Johan Renck this music video is beautiful, mysterious and sad. With weird shaped monsters and crazy eye make-up whats not to like?

NL2T Rating: Song: 4.5/5

Video: 4.5/5

#7- Lady Gaga – Paparazzi

The music video was directed by Swedish director,Jonas Akerlund, who has previously directed music videos for artists like The Smashing Pumpkins, Madonna and Moby. eight minutes in length, Gaga explains “The video explores ideas about sort of hyperbolic situations that people will go to in order to be famous.”

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 4.5/5

#6- Tiesto – I Will Be Here

Tiësto teamed up with acclaimed Japanese director Muto to create the music video for I Will Be Here. A very modern or futuristic video of synchronised movement and light with animation.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4.5/5

Video: 4.5/5

#5- The Presets – If I Know You

The clip, directed by Eva Husson, follows a young boy, as he dances his way beneath the streets of Hollywood… A thrilling juxtaposition of a middle class teen from the burbs, the volatile LA environment and explosive dance.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4.5/5

Video 4.5/5

#4- Friendly Fires – Kiss Of Life

This very simple video is basically a uplifting, big carnival-esque party on the beach. Lots of Colour, dancing and Life. And don’t forget the slow-mo, lots of slow-mo.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4.5/5

Video: 4/5

#3- Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People

Filmed at Las Pozas, Monterrey and Garcia in Mexico and Directed by Josh Logue. This video is wacky, weird and different yet is has a unexplainible brilliance. Just Watch it.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 4.5/5

#2- Royksopp – The Girl and The Robot

This video is from the second single off Royksopp’s latest album, Junior. Besides the fact that the video is just cool, it is also shot beautifully.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 4.5/5

#1- Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

Directed by hollywood heavyweight Francis Lawrence this music video really more like a short film. Amazing evolutionary themes and amazing pictures, this one goes down in the history books.

NL2T Rating: Song: 4/5

Video: 5/5 (The first 5/5 we have ever given)

What is you favourite video of the year? let us know in the comments section bellow!

It’s November which for me is essentially closing time for the year’s great songs, because we all know that what you download in December will just end up soundtracking the early part of next year. So let us declare which ones need a download as we go through the past year.(and maybe even December of last year)

Bat For Lashes-Daniel

This might be song of the year, but there is no doubt that this single holds the best cover of the year.

Told ya it’s greatness! Anything that mixes airbrushing, Ralph Macchio, and sexy middle eastern women just can’t fail, which is exactly why I’m starting this list with it.

Like most of her work,the absurdly gorgeous Natasha Khan imparts an influence both earthy and heavenly on this song, but what separates this one from all the rest is the dark, electronic synthesizer lines and beats that are reminiscent of Touch era Eurythmics. (i.e. the album with Here Comes the Rain Again/Whos That Girl). There is also a remarkable amount of restraint shown in her soprano vocals for once, best illustrated in the fantastic Daaaaaaaaniel chorus that has yet to grow tired some eight months after it’s release. In short, it’s the best thing she’s done,  it’s the best of this new wave of Kate Bush influenced female pop songs and it’s downright unstoppable.

You get the great live appearance on superstar presenter Jools Holland’s program , even though the original video is as great as the cover(blame non embeddable video for that),

Daniel, when I first saw you I knew that you had a flame in your heart and under under our blue skies, marble movie skies. I found a home in your eyes we’ll never be apart and when the fires came. The smell of cinders and rain perfumed almost everything. We laughed and laughed and laughed and in the golden blue cryin’ took me to the darkest place and you have set fire to my heart.

When I run in the dark to a place that’s worst under a sheet of rain in my heart. I dream of home.

Fie ca sunt omuletii verzi care au fost cam peste tot vara asta, fie ca sunt unii mai negri si mai scary, ei apar (cei negri) si in clip-ul abia-descoperit-de-mine al trupei Bat for Lashes, “Daniel”.

Melodia e tare asa si se afla pe albumul “Two Suns”, aparut pe 7 aprilie 2009.

I’d be lying if I said this was a new video, or so hip and cool that only the insiders inside circle knew about. It actually came out a few years ago and is from a band called Bat For Lashes. I stumbled across it again just now when I was working on something else and had to share it with you guys. It had been awhile since I’d seen it and I almost forgot how much I love it. So if you saw it back then let’s reminisce, and if you’re seeing it for the first time enjoy! This one is called ‘What’s a Girl To Do’

The first thing I found myself wondering when I visited the myspace page for The Good Natured was why on earth every aspiring “alternative” artist lists Japanese Pop as a generic descriptor for their music which bears little to no resemblance to such oriental greats as Shonen Knife.  Perhaps I was biased from the start, but it really didn’t get any better once the audio began.  She sounds like a characteristically insubstantial jelly wobbling around in the mould of Bat for Lashes and Florence + The Machine with the vocal capabilities of a toddling Lily Allen/Kate Nash hybrid.  Reading the reviews of the Your Body Is A Machine EP, it is difficult to conceive that Rory Carroll is anything but deluded in the assertion that ‘we may finally have a female artist who exists in a land without gimmicks, affected Mockney accents and gigantic quiffs,’ since that appears to be precisely what she delivers.  Alright, so perhaps she is actually a Londoner, but that doesn’t mean that her Cockney isn’t to be mocked.  The bizarre ensemble of instruments is little other than gimmicky, although it is difficult to tell (and largely irrelevant) whether or not she has a quiff.  Her lyrics are, on the whole, dire and tautological.  Rose is by far the best of a bad bunch.  I’ll give her a few years to grow a pair… of lungs, that is.

Lauren from LNA and I were fast friends. Long before she was the Queen of Tee she has become, we met while I was in between jobs and working at a girly boutique in Brentwood. She was peddling the daintiest lace dresses that I had to buy every style of and still rock hardddd to this day (although I think it’s safe to say that both of our styles have evolved beyond *flirty feminine* at this point!) Anyway, I knew from day one she had great things in store for herself and couldn’t be prouder of the now lusty LNA powerhouse. Hopefully I can shed some light on what makes this designer tick in yet another tantalizing addition to the Designer Proust Series…

CAYSF: Who is your greatest muse? 

LNA Lauren: That changes all of the time. Right now I have a couple. Natasha Kahn of Bat for Lashes, Alison Mosshart of the Kills, and Georgia May Jagger.

CAYSF: What is your main fault?

LNA Lauren: I am such a procrastinator! I cut it waaay to close to deadlines… according to my sister that is. But that’s what deadlines are for right?

CAYSF: What do you do to get inspired?

LNA Lauren: I get really inspired by whatever bands I am currently listening to. Singers make great muses! They always have a really interesting sense of style and I am always inspired by how they put their outfits together.

CAYSF: What 3 things would we never find you without?

LNA Lauren: My Iphone–it’s all 3 in one–phone, camera and Ipod.

CAYSF: Who are your top 3 people’s closets you’d like to raid?  

LNA Lauren: Victoria Traina, Natasha Kahn, and Marilyn Manson- I just know my dream pair of leather pants is in that wardrobe somewhere.



CAYSF: What is your fave piece of clothing and a story behind it of why? 

LNA Lauren: All my white V necks: The staple of my wardrobe and the reason April and I started LNA. A white V neck looks good with EVERYTHING. I mean, you know it’s never going to go out of style.



CAYSF: What are your top 3 fave foods? 

LNA Lauren: Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate

CAYSF: What is your favorite travel destination? 

LNA Lauren: Palm Springs for relaxing and vintage shopping and New York for a fun getaway.

CAYSF: Where could I find you on a random Sunday? 

LNA Lauren: At home! Sunday is my one day where I literally do nothing. I sleep in, go get coffee, and then stay in the rest of the day! Lazy Sundays when it’s raining are ideal =)

CAYSF: What is your favorite motto? 

LNA Lauren: I would rather regret the things I did than the things I did not do. I have no clue where I heard that or when but it has always stuck with me.

CAYSF: Mount Rushmore honors 4 US presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. If you could add anyone to the mountain, who would it be and why?  

LNA Lauren: Bill Murray! How hilarious would that be?!

CAYSF: Who is your favorite band?

LNA Lauren: Radiohead.

CAYSF: Who is your favorite artist? 

LNA Lauren: Mattia Biagi!

CAYSF: What is a memory that has shaped your career most? 

LNA Lauren: This didn’t really shape my career but it definitely was a moment I will always remember. I once met with a very well known label owner (cant say who it is) to get some advice about starting a clothing line and he told my partner and I that we were probably never going to make any money selling t-shirts. I will always remember that day. We were so new in the business and we saw how harsh this industry can be. I think it opened our eyes and made us work that much harder to make it!

CAYSF:What designer or store would be a dream LNA collaboration?

LNA Lauren: I would like to collaborate with  Browns in London. They really get it and take risks with the buying for that store. I wouldn’t have to play it safe or try and appeal to a mass market. I don’t like designing with restrictions.

Without further ado, here’s some lookbook loveeeee!

It’s a need now, a burning.  It’s uncontrollable and undeniable.  I am raw, and exposed, my defenses burned away to leave me a naked helpless girl, the next victim upon the pyre.

Caution:  handle with care, if you dare…

Day Sixty-Eight:  I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen) – Bat For Lashes

recently got a (working) ipod and decided it was time to put some good music on it- this is what I’ve liked (don’t worry, i had help, my knowledge isn’t this refined) – take some listens(i have no idea how to embed audio clips. soooo these are videos/music)

Cold War Kids

Yeah Yeah Yeahs won’t let me embed the actual music video, so go here to see it- or just listen:

Band of Horses

Bat for Lashes

Bon Iver

¡Más difícil todavía! Señoras y señores ¡Pasen y vean! Se rifa el mejor álbum de la temporada 2009 (el top de las mejores canciones del año es este)

Y, como igual ustedes andan perdidos entre tanta oferta disquera del año… yo, humildemente, me he tomado la libertad de hacerles una selección previa.

¡Vota ya! Que el ganador se llevará un perrito piloto (que yo, sacrificadamente, tendré a bien entregar en mano… si ustedes me lo financian)

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bob Dylan – Together Through Life

British Sea Power – Man Of Aran

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Sonic Youth – The Eternal

The Cribs – Ignore The Ignorant

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

 Wilco – The Album

It has been known since the invention of the first bone flute by the cavemen that music is a great addition to sex. It can make one go faster, slower, get in the mood and of course fake a headache using the loud noise as an excuse for avoiding intercourse. I for one prefer songs that make me more aware of all my senses.

With that thought in mind, I searched my I-pod for the best songs to feel more sensual when having sex. Here’s my list:

• The xx – Crystalised
• Bat for Lashes – Daniel
• Coco – Drain You
• PJ Harvey – Catherine
• La Roux – Cover My Eyes
• Cut Copy – Saturdays

Here’s the video for Crystalised:

The list is given. If you’re ever having sex with me, you know how to proceed.

4. Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Kasabian suffered from the sophomore slump with 2006’s Empire. But third album West Ryder… is also the band’s best effort yet. The energy is finally contained — in a good way. On a song like “Fire,” it’s easy to wish you were seeing the band live. And finally, Kasabian have made a complete album. There’s just not much filler here. An interesting instrumental (“Swarfiga”) is about it. It’s a band that might not ever break the United States. Which is unfortunate, because Kasabian is easily one of the best proper rock bands left in the world.

5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

A Pitchfork fad? Nope. This is Animal Collective’s eighth LP and it’s experimental bliss. Everything sounds like it’s from another planet. One of those albums you must look up the lyrics to just to know what’s going on. For the first time, it sounds as though Animal Collective knows exactly what they’re doing. Precisely. Down to every note. Complete confidence. On first listen, many will think “this is weird.” Only a short time passes before it usually turns to “this is amazing.”

6. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Forget Talyor Swift. Lily Allen is 50 times more interesting and a 100 times more entertaining. Case in point: It’s Not Me, It’s You. Lead single “The Fear” shows Allen’s blunt honesty as she sings, “I want loads of clothes and f***loads of diamonds,” all in that soft British accent. But the album is far deeper than honestly. Allen added some electropop to her second LP, adding to the catchiness of her debut Alright, Still. She even does politics. “Kabul S***” might not make you think for hours, but it’s easy to relate to. “F*** You” is even better, with Allen sounding ever so polite while telling a certain former president what’s what.

7. Metric – Fantasies

It doesn’t get much more slick than this. From “Sick Muse” to “Gimme Sympathy,” it’s hard to see why a bundle of songs here didn’t take radio by storm. Nonetheless, Fantasies deserves to mentioned with the best of the year. On a song like “Blindness,” Metric know when to hold back, letting vocalist Emily Haines take the spotlight with lyrics to sing that are more interesting than on any other Metric album.

Honorable mentions:

Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Discovery – LP
Silversun Pickups – Swoon
Jet – Shaka Rock
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Muse – The Resistance
U2 – No Line on the Horizon
Noel Gallagher – The Dreams We Have as Children (Live for Teenage Cancer Trust)
Steel Panther – Feel the Steel
The Lonely Island – Incredibad

Natasha Khan (AKA Bat for Lashes)

Thanks to my friend & fellow-musician (and Tori fan, I might add) Jodelle, I discovered Bat For Lashes about 10 days ago, and have been pretty much listening non-stop.  I bought both her (Natasha Khan, AKA Bat for Lashes) records, “Fur and Gold” and “Two Suns,” plus a live recording which includes some tunes off both records.

To me and my taste, BFL is the perfect combination of many influences mixed with Natasha Khan’s general uniqueness.  She probably gets really tired of these comparisons, but a lot of her stuff sounds like a combination of Kate Bush (esp. Hounds of Love), 80s New Wave music (particularly on Two Suns), a tiny bit of Tori here and there, Dead Can Dance, Bjork (although I shudder at how “cool” Bjork has become particularly in artsy-fartsy jazzy scenes…yuck, sorry…yuck…too trendy for my taste…not “yuck” to Bjork herself, but I mean, the Bjorkestra?  Wtf?  It’s just a bunch of jazz musicians who – had they known me in middle school — would have thought I was a total weirdo because I listened to the Sugarcubes not to mention other uh, “alternative” bands.  And now it’s suddenly the super cool thing to do to be into her?  Sorry, maybe this is not fair to say).  I digress.  But really, at the end of the day, BFL is so eclectic and original…just too exciting!  Some of it is danceable, much of it super moody & atmospheric, lyrically filled with mythical imagery (‘a knight in crystal armor’ and ‘we saw the queen in the sky’, etc.)…GORGEOUS, imo.  Her music really takes me on a mental and visceral trip…it’s great to daydream to, it’s great to work out to, it’s great to relax to, get dressed up to go out to, etc., etc.  So many beautiful elements!  And serious tribal percussion going on on Two Suns!  Special thanks to Jodelle (whose music is fabulous, I might add) for introducing me to this incredible music.  http://www.batforlashes.com/

And Natasha Khan has the best fashion of just about anyone I’ve ever seen…maybe since Tori’s 2001 Strange Little Girls tour or 2005 Original Sinsuality tour.  Those were the best fashion-wise.  Natasha rules!  Happy listening…and viewing…

Natasha Khan (AKA Bat for Lashes)

I don’t know this band, Bat for Lashes, or really care. Or even know how I got on the website. All I wanna know is….. where did she get that outfit??? It’s kind of awesome. Where? Where! Where!?

(Via Brooklyn Vegan)

Natasha Khan, the front woman for Bat for Lashes, really amazes me with her beautiful yet haunting voice. I just found this video of her song Daniel which they performed live on 98.3 The Current using some really nice vintage instruments. Really set the mood for me during my homework session at 4 AM.

September 7th, 2009

The dust has settled and this morning our adventurous jaunt to Ireland’s premier festival, Electric Picnic, is sinking in.

We were to play in the area known as the Mindfield . As a more intelluctual (some might say pretentious) side of the festival, it was peppered with a theatre tent offering abridged Shakespeare and comedy; a spoken word / poetry tent (which I had vacate almost immediately because I didn’t want to piss myself laughing at some ‘oul one reading some god awful verse with about as much enthusiasm as a corpse) and our own Leviathan tent – hosting “Political Cabaret”.

…..

Yeah, I know. That’s what I thought.

Anyway it was actually quite entertaining – economists battled politician battling socialist battling every fucking irate / drunken punter going.

Lots of swearing and accusations, but that’s pretty much how Irish people have been handling the recession anyway.

So business as usual except with microphones.

We had picked up Danny our manager (legend) from Dublin airport around 1ish and got to the festival site  around 3ish.

We discovered we were way too early-ish.

We were scheduled to go on at 6.15, so we gave ourselves a little bit of time to wander into a couple of the larger tents and caught a great set by Dublin band Jape and then Billy Bragg giving the crowd shit (quite rightly) over the Lisbon vote; to which, oddly, some people whooped and applauded to.

Trying to be as professionally punctual as possible (try saying that drunk), we trudged over to the Leviathan tent. Here we discovered the debate was still raging on.

And on.

And on.

And on.

Once the shouting had died down and the drunken, fist waving polemists had finally admitted that they were way too hammered to remember their original point (s) – it was game time.

And what a game.

Aided by a great sound (thanks Evin) and some enthused dancing, we pretty much played our best show ever.

Odd seeing that written down, but it’s true.

Crowd was fantastic – like a sea of Bez’s – and anyone who stuck a curious head in, not only stayed but joined in.

Yeah, that qualifies it, alright.

Pulling that off in a periphery tent whilst Bat For Lashes, Klaxons and fucking Brian Wilson were kicking off, is pretty damn impressive (editor’s note : Bat For Lashes never showed up, Klaxons are shit and Brian Wilson just smiled and drooled, apparently).

Smiles all round and we swiftly made our way back to Doug’s motor to get Danny back for his red eye flight on Sunday morning (the trip back was a little less swift than planned after a nearly fruitless attempt to find an open petrol station in the wilds of  County Laois. However, thanks, to Chris’ GPS on his Blackberry it was a lot swifter than it could have been).

The next day we were untethered from our manager and decided to travel a little later as to avoid the hanging around. We didn’t count on the All Ireland Hurling Final providing a 2 kilometer tail- back on the motorway, but as before, things were running late and we had loads of time to spare.

We arrived to catch the end of a lecture / presentation by legendary rock and roll photographer Bob Gruen. Bob’s been in the business 40 years and it was pretty amazing seeing his snaps of everyone from the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dylan, Springsteen to Bon Jovi (!) and Green Day.

Showtime was upon us again but, due to my ever present genius, I had forgotten my bag of leads and pedals, as well as Niall and mine’s guitar straps. Leads were found and Niall myself looked quite punk rock as we improvised by using duct tape to fashion straps for ourselves.

We knew we probably couldn’t top the previous night and were a little nervous when we saw that the tent filled out and we only had about a dozen people in front of us. The main stage was in full final night swing and we had lost a lot of people due to our unintentional later stage time.

In a testament to the band’s attitude we played our asses off and, thanks in no small part to Niall’s talent at audience interaction, we managed to end up with the tent, at the very least, three quaters full.

We felt like winners again and after a barnstorming encore we ended up with the crowd on their feet and bopping away.

After loading the gear into our van, we then legged it back to Doug’s car once more to gleefully return to Dublin for some much deserved rest.

All in all a triumphant weekend.

Back to work in the studio this week - but not without the small matter of going to see Fleet Foxes tonight…!

See y’all soon!

Disko

X

Soundtrack : Smokestack Lightning – Howlin’ Wolf

The Wellingtons – Mockery
Haunting and enchanting, this Brighton pair have created a melodic work of art. Using only a cello and vocals as a backing track, The Wellingtons manage to charm any listener with their romanticism.

Their sound is reminiscent of Cat Power, dark and brooding but with all the folk-pop magic of Laura Marling. It’s refreshing for a new band to not make a lot of noise, keep it simple and capture listeners’ imagination – these girls are well worth a listen.

Listen if you like: Laura Marling, Cat Power, Bat for Lashes.
Also Listen To: Dumbstruck, Sanded Yesterdays.

Photographed by Kmeron

There is the song Horse And I recorded in HD on my YouTube

There will be soon a post about it on kmeron

And all my Concert Pictures can be seen on : musicfromthepit

– License

5 days of madness (or, a round of applause for your friend from Brighton) – pt. 3

(Editorial note: Sam has been sent to get some professional help. Thanks for your concerns – Your lovely editors, Misky & Quintana).

Day four: Bat for Lashes.

“My name is Pearl and I love you”

This is it.

No, not the Michael Jackson film, but the day I’ve been waiting for so long. It’s the Bat for Lashes gig at the Sheffield Octagon and I get ready, slightly trembling. Will it be good or not? Have I overhyped myself too much over this? After all, I’ve been gushing about ‘Two suns’ for so long, I think any speck of journalistic integrity I had in my body has been evaporised.

That previous statement is called “foretelling” in the lit world, kiddies.

I check my messages. My friend Pips tells me she’ll be a bit late. No worries, I’m late too, undecided of what to wear. I go for some grubby clothes and a bandanna. I have a white one and I could portray Daniel’s fat, non-unionised Mexican equivalent.

I pick a gaudy orange one and make my way, listening to some old school stuff .

After a few minutes of waiting, the doors open and we make our way as close as we can to the stage, with a previous stop for fuel (Southern Comfort with lime and coke, heavenly).

Opening act Yeasayer, which I’ve never heard before, are entertaining and probably require a few repeated viewings until a final judgement can be made. I enjoyed them and the little stuff I have since acquired is cracking stuff.

No, really, check them out. They are worth your time.

A quick head turning broke any misgivings I had about peoples’ tastes: the place was packed. People with strange painted faces made me think of Ms. Khan’s dirge like, sombre cover of Kings of Leon’s “Use somebody”.

Then the lights went off. The stage was lit in purple and blue hues and in comes Bat for Lashes. Weird, she wasn’t wearing any of her strange costumes or any interesting body paint, just a very modest (and cute) dress that made her look a bit like Alice in Wonderland.

Hey, where’s the white rabbit?

She seems to be very shy, but interacts with the people, no matter what certain reviewers say. ‘Glass’, from the album-of-the-year-fodder “Two suns” was the intro song, first with Natasha Khan by herself, then having the band segueing into a drum and bass rhythm that allegedly comes from working with Yeasayer during Khan’s time in New York.

It’s hard trying to put down in words what it is like to see this band live. The strange noises and quirky instruments, most notable a heavily pluckered autoharp and bells in a string (‘The Wizard’ – mesmerising!) that you get on the recordings rear their head live, creating an atmosphere akin to an incense laden mass in a gothic cathedral.

In a nutshell, the music was amazing.

I managed to get a few decent pictures and although there were quite a lot of songs and enough time was given to  each to completely feel the raw emotions, time seemed to fly by, never slowing down, never feeling sluggish. Heavenly.

‘Horse and I’ starts, with that crazy organ that always reminds me of a great Stabbing Westward song. I felt goosebumps with ‘Daniel’ and with ‘Siren song’, the latter one being the moment when “Two suns” struck a chord the first time  I heard it. I shed several tears, as the whole structure of the Octagon trembled with her voice saying “evil, evil” in that magnificent voice.

Fanboy > Critic. Apologies to my dear editors.

And then, she was gone. A TV was rolled into the stage and they came back. The encore started in a surreal way: ‘The big sleep’, a duet between Natasha and her yang-like evil twin, Pearl (via television!). ‘Prescilla’ is the last thing I remember from the gig, before wanting to pass out.

The end was near and just like that, the gig I’ve been pining for so long was over. Empty and solemn was the procession leaving the place. I thought about going over for a celebratory gin & tonic afterwards when Pips excused herself, she needed to take a call.

When I was deciding where to go and get intoxicated, Pips interrupted my train of thought:

“Hey, it was Misky, our editor”.

“Cool beans, what did she say?”

“Natasha Khan will be at Bungalows & Bears in about an hour. Do you wanna try a spot of  ‘meet and greet’?”

Did I say “interrupted”? I meant, derailed.

Pips couldn’t make it, but I did. I ran as fast as I could, but I got nixed by the bouncer. He said the place was too packed and there were several people waiting outside. I feared the worst. I spent half an hour, under the spittle that was passing as a drizzle.

Then the bouncer said to a group of 3 girls to get inside, then he looked at me and said: “go in and get yourself a drink, mate”.

Which I did. I hate waiting by myself in a pub, so what better way to pass time than having an interesting drink? I settled on a Charro negro (with extra lime) and texted the time away. Meaning that I was hanging by a pillar near the bar, texting people around and always looking at the door, checking who was getting in.

“I can do this” I said to myself. “I’ve met famous people I admire”. I had 3 questions to ask her, nothing too intrusive nor expansive. Hey, it’s the end of the tour so I don’t want to pester Ms. Khan with questions.

Different scenarios played in my head, but as time passed by, the one taking form was that this was only a rumour that Misky had heard on the grapevine. Fair enough, I had a drink, heard some cracking tunes and when this Rage against the Machine song finishes, I’ll be a goner.

And, lo and behold, I was biting a piece of lime when she entered the place. She talks with some girl who was in the pillar in front of mine. My knees go wobbly, I feel a rush of blood and heat towards my head (passing through my cheeks, making me blush) and I stumble my way as the coward I am, trying to put the glass back in the bar.

A moment of hesitation passes, I turn around and one fellow fanboy is already talking with her. I feel stupid and curse myself. Still, I coyly make my way towards the small group and ask her friend if she’s who I think she is. She could see I was making up that question as a way to break the ice and talk with Ms. Khan.

So it was my turn to speak to her. I presented myself, saying I was from Mexico and she smiled, saying that she was going to open for Coldplay in march in Mexico. I wish I had said “They should be opening for you”. Couldn’t say it.

The three questions? Couldn’t say them either. I was trembling, I felt my heart pound. I blushed and I realised I was becoming a blubbering fanboy and if I didn’t say anything, security would be all over me, working my face over and dropping my carcass in Rockingham Street, as a cautionary tale for all freshers to see.

Instead, I just tell her that the Mexican public might not react well to all her songs (?) and that she shouldn’t feel discouraged and just do a great show like she just did. I wished her the best of luck and produced out of my wallet a stamp of the Virgin of Guadalupe (??). She said it was very nice and I said it was for “luck in your future visit to Mexico” (???).

She said “thanks” and I realise that maybe I’m not the only nervous person here. Although she has the musical credibility and certainly the flair of a band’s frontwoman (frontperson?), she’s a very humble person. Retreat is in order.

Yes, I was a big Ramen soup of teenage awkwardness peppered with fanboyish-ness, so I asked for a quickie picture, which she obliged. We shook hands, again I said she was excellent and I moved away promptly, letting her enjoy the rest of her night.

I queued at the bar for what felt like ages and ordered a cider. I thought about the three questions. “Which song do you think sums up Two Suns?”. “Which of the live songs do you struggle the most, emotionally speaking?”. “Are you…”

Again, my train of thought derailed by something I saw at the other side of the bar. I quaffed the cider in one go and left Bungalows and Bears as fast as I could. The drink started to wreck havoc and I stopped for a sausage roll at Greggs. I was thirsty then. I went for a massive gin and tonic at The Harley. And then everything was a blur.

I remember stumbling up the Evil Alley by Marlborough Road, barely managing to crawl up the stairs and then turning up my computer and write this stuff, keep the memories fresh and as undistorted as I could.

What I do remember before drifting off into the arms of sleep is turning the laptop off and hearing a song blasting from another room. Good times for a change. See, the luck I’ve had can make a good man turn bad…

-S

Day 5:Best tracks live: Horse and I, What’s a girl to do? (“this one is for the ladies”), The Wizard, Siren song, Glass, Daniel, Sleep alone.

If this concert were a David Bowie song it would be: I’ve been waiting for Pearl

If this excuse of a review were a David Bowie song it would be: The man who run from the world.

Gallery:

Editor’s note: After receiving this, our lovely writer was supposed to cover Oxjam, another music event, but due to unfortunate circumstances, he never handed in this. We apologise in advance. Here’s some links for your enjoyment:

http://www.batforlashes.com/

https://twitter.com/bat_for_lashes

Toasty!

Howdy. I though to honour the time of the year I’d post a list of Guy Fawkes related songs (to some the link may be slightly tenuous). These are a few of the songs on my playlist at the moment.

Blue Öyster Cult- Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll

Bat For Lashes- I’m On Fire

Bob Dylan- This Wheel’s On Fire

Cajun Dance Party- The Firework

Hardknox- Fire Like This

Johnny Cash- Ring Of Fire

The Who- Sparks

The list goes on but things will start to get a bit exhaustive. Enjoy and be safe!

DAVID BOWIE – TELLING LIES (ADAM F REMIX)
BRIAN ENO – IN DARK TREES
D-BRIDGE – MEMORY PARK
BLU MAR TEN – BY THE TIME MY LIGHT REACHES YOU I’LL BE GONE
DEEP BLUE & BLAME – DE-TRANSITIONS
LTJ BUKEM – CONSTELLATIONS (FEAT. MC CONRAD & DRS)
JOY ORBISON – HYPH MNGO
FLOATING POINTS – J&W BEAT
FINK – TROUBLE’S WHAT YOU’RE IN
UNKLE – IN A STATE
A NUMBER OF NAMES – SHARI VARI
INSTRA:MENTAL – TRAMMA
BLU MAR TEN – MADE OF AIR
BAT FOR LASHES – SLEEP ALONE
ROBERT MANOS – FIRST BORN LOVE
BAT FOR LASHES – DANIEL
KOEN HOLTKAMP – WALKER / MONEY MARK – INSECTS ARE ALL AROUND US

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