LILY ALLEN/ BEYONCE/ LORDE/ ELLIE GOULDING/ MORE

There's been some pretty feisty & fabulous ladies flying

the flag for us women in the world of music lately and

this playlist is dedicated to a handful of them, 

to say thanks for being ruddy wonderful. 

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SONGS I AM LIKING DECEMBER 2013

Hollaaaaahhhh!

(that's my new favourite word and I don't

even know why, because as far as I know it's so 2000 and late

and everything -sorry Fergie- but ughhhh I JUST THINK IT'S AMAZING!!!)

I just wanted to give you a little

heads up to some songs I am liking right now at this

very moment in time.

SO I'M A BE TURNING UP THE TUNEAGE IN 3...2...1

1) PHARRELL WILLIAMS- HAPPY

2) SUB FOCUS FEAT KELE- TURN IT AROUND

3) AFROJACK FT SPREE WILSON- THE SPARK

4) AVICII- HEY BROTHER

5) BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB- CARRY ME

6) DISCLOSURE FT LONDON GRAMMAR- HELP ME LOSE MY MIND

7) DRAKE FT SAMPA- TOO MUCH

8) JASON DERULO- TRUMPETS

9) VAMPIRE WEEKEND- STEP

10) HALF MOON RUN- FULL CIRCLE

11) THE ORWELLS- DIRTY SHEETS

12) ARCTIC MONKEYS- YOU'RE SO DARK

So as you can probably tell, it's a right mix and a half

what with the likes of Disclosure, Drake, The Orwells and Arctic's co-existing as one in this mighty

mega mix of a list.

But I'll tell you what, these tunes should

give you the perfect little build up to midnight on New Years Eve

and take you right back down into a nice

chilled come-at-me-bro stance, ready to take

on the New Year.

And man, who doesn't want that?!

VINYL CONVERT

Last week my lovely friend Ellie

sold me her 7" 45 rpm record player for the nifty

little price of £30.

For well over a year I have poured over vinyl in my

local Oxfam, where I used to volunteer/ spend my time flicking through

the latest vinyl deliveries instead of re-stocking shelves.

I'd pour through my Dad's pretty amazing record collection, which for

some reason he stores in the garage away from prying

eyes and fingers (aka. me) -The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Bob Marley and more- and a nostalgic sigh would escape my mouth.

I don't know about you but I long to experience those days where

you had vinyl and all things vintage and retro...

I'd read NME and they'd talk about Record Store Day,

which occurs every April and raises awareness of vinyl and gives

a publicity boost to all those independent record stores

scattered across the country.

In NME I'd also read musicians and artists describe

their favourite vinyl tracks, and the feeling and sensation of listening

to and playing vinyl. The needle, the crackle, the side A, the side B.

And I wanted to experience it so bad.

Our own 78 rpm record player is apparently non functioning, according

to my dad, so when my friend told me she was selling hers,

I was all in mate.

For the last couple of years vinyl and records seem to be on

the rise. You only have to pop in to your local HMV to find a whole section dedicated to vinyl with many current artists 

such as Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, The XX et al not only

releasing new albums via CD, but also via vinyl too.

And oooooh IT'S SO EXCITING.

And now I can kind of take part, with my little 45rpm :)

Although of course, being raised in the technologic generation,

the record player and vinyl itself to to me

are nostalgic beauties that absolutely fascinate me.

I don't know how you could marvel at how an ipod works, because to me,

that's just technology and that's that.

But this, this is essentially a piece of plastic which somehow

has music in it, and if you put a needle on it and spin

it around, sound comes out of it, and the record player

itself may need to be plugged into the socket but still, I don't

understand how you can listen to music without

all that complicated technology.

And what's more, it also amazes me how all us technologic teens

are embracing vintage and retro going against

the grain, and clambering

to get our hands on the things our parents have long since discarded

as being old, whilst our parents have gone

stark raving technology loving mad!

Ahhhh....Life is so weird sometimes...

<3

(This is the first vinyl record I listened to,

'Could You Be Loved' by Bob Marley & The Wailers,

once I'd figured out how to work the thing)

Listen to it here :)

NEW, UNDISCOVERED & RUDDY AWESOME MUSIC ONE

So on my Twitter @diamond_glasses

I have quite a few followers who happen to be budding musicians

in the making and I thought it would be nice

to take a moment to listen to their music and give you a heads

up on who's who and some tunes to listen to.

Before this blog I wrote a blog called Tee Pot Music

but as I've been so busy, and because something crazy happened

which involved me not listening to the radio for weeks at a time,

I didn't think I was in as good a position

to recommend new music.

But I'm going to flex my musical joints right now *crack crack*

and dish out some musical goods for you in time for 

Christmas... I don't have time to write much but I'm 

going to give you some names, songs and info as to where, if you

like what you hear, you can find out more.

:)

___________________________________________________

1) Alex George 

Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (John Mayer Cover)

 Lego House (Ed Sheeran Cover)

LA LA LA (Sam Smith ft Naughty Boy cover)

This Barnham native is very, very good at 

what he does. I've just been listening to the covers above

and nodding my head in approval like the Churchill dog on

those adverts because me like what I am hearing. 

Alex has such a gorgeous voice

that will slot nicely into the 'Easy Listening' and 'Acoustic' 

genres of your music library.

So far he only has covers up, but it will

be interesting to see what Alex's produces when he takes a dabble at

making his own music.

If you like Alex George you should also take a look at 

the music of his collaboration partner Ben Harvey.

STAY TUNED IN:

GO TO SONG

La La La (cover)

-see video above

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/AlexGeorgeMusic?fref=ts

YOU TUBE

http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexGeorgeMusic?feature=watch

TWITTER

https://twitter.com/AlexG_Music

_______________________________

2) JAKE WEST

Believe

Skinny Love (Bon Iver cover)

Your Love

Jake hails from Leeds, up in depths of Yorkshire,

but alas, his beautiful rich voice bears no trace of this.

I would write more about Jake and who he is,

but he sums it perfectly himself in

this groovy and funny little You Tube vid...

STAY TUNED IN:

GO TO SONG

BELIEVE
(he writes his own music!)

YOUTUBE

http://www.youtube.com/user/jakewestmusic?feature=watch

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/UKJakeWest?fref=ts

TWITTER

https://twitter.com/UKJakeWest

__________________________________________________________________

3)  ADAM BYRNE

Sun Don't Shine (Sonnentanz ft Will Heard cover)

Hold On We're Going Home ft Get Lucky

Now I can't find out much about Adam, 
except he's Irish (wooooooh, we love the Irish!) but
what I can tell you is that this guy is
a budding talent if ever there was one. The two vids
above see Adam collaborate with another guy,
whose name I do not know, but when the two come together
it really is something amazing.

To see what I mean go listen to their covers
and you'll understand. I hope Adam and said guy form a
duet because I really do think they are onto something when they
bring their respective talents together, and
I can't wait to hear what they cover next!

GO TO TUNE 
Hold On We're Going Home (cover)

YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/adambyrnacus?feature=watch

TWITTER
https://twitter.com/_AdamByrne

________________________________________________________________

4) MajorLOVE

Sunrise

All The Other People

MajorLOVE are an indie-dance-pop duo comprised of
a husband and wife with a big love for music.
They hail from Phoenix Arizona (quite possibly where Bella
in Twilight is from- nerd fact right there) and
trust me you will be pleasantly surprised by what you find
when you click on their vids.

I have to admit I wasn't sure what to expect,
but the You Tube comments assured me goodness was about to come
my way and y'know what, they were damn right.

Take a listen to Sunrise in particular for gorgeous vocals galore.

STAY TUNED IN:

GO TO TUNE
Sunrise
(own song!)

YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/MajorLOVEmusic?feature=watch

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/MajorLOVEmusic

____________________________

5) MR TOM

Feet Hit The Floor

Dead of The Night

King & Queen

Mr Tom is a four piece self described 'indie banger pop'
band from Southampton who create some tunes that most certainly
do fit into the 'banger' category.
If you want an example listen to 'Feet Hit The Floor' which
launches straight into an upbeat mish mash of pulsating
sounds that will instantly hook your attention.

They also have the best website ever!
http://www.mrtommusic.com/ 

STAY TUNED:

GO TO TUNE
Feet Hit The Floor

FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/MrTomMusic

YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrTommusicchannel?feature=watch


_______________________________________________________

This concludes the first part of the new music special,
but rest assured, you can expect another post within the next couple of days! :)

JOHN NEWMAN LOSING SLEEP

As you may or may not know,

John Newman is a pretty talented guy when it comes

to music and singing and songwriting.

You would've first heard him on the incredible

dance anthem 'Feel The Love' by those groovy guys at Rudimental,

as well as on their follow up single

'Not Giving In'.

His powerful, soulful, rich, gravelly voice

is one to be reckoned with, and Newman has been hailed

as the purveyor of a certain brand of music

named good old NORTHERN SOUL.

Newman was born and bred in a little town called

Settle in North Yorkshire,

where some of my family happen to reside, so

I feel a bit like I have this super deep connection

with John y'know, because I actually know where he be coming from, yah?

(I'm kidding about the connection thing btw.)

But yes, back to the music,

now this genre is relatively new, and it's all to do

with the wonderful tea loving folk up north embracing the

fantastic genre of soul (with a touch of
Motown) and giving it a new lease of life with a little

Northern twist on the end,

just to spice and shake things up.

And as you may also know,

Newman does Northern soul so very well.

So well in fact, that his debut album 'Tribute'

slid in to the album charts at the sacred numero uno spot,

whilst debut single 'Love Me Again'

also fought off stiff competition to plonk itself

on top of the singles chart as well.

DOUBLE WHAMMY EH EH.

And not an easy feat to manage if you're new onto the music scene.

Newman's newest release is the utterly gorgeous 

'Losing Sleep', which isn't as fast paced as his

previous two singles, but I can assure you it's just as

electric and oozes sweet, rich soul 

that will hit you in just the right spot.

So with that being said, 

metaphorically run like the wind and go check it out!

And whilst you're at it whack

'Tribute' on your Chrimbo list and hopefully

good ol' St Nick might get into the spirit

of Chrimbo and get you a copy,

(that's if he able to resist parting with it).

LOSING SLEEP

LOVE ME AGAIN

CHEATING

BUY

TRIBUTE

HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tribute-John-Newman/dp/B00DM2Q9E4