As far as I’m concerned, the stand-out single of 2011 was Gotye’sSomebody That I Used to Know, featuring Kimbra. The video is equally as captivating as the song, so if you’re the last person on Earth to know about this incredible track you really need to watch the video above. It’s magic, and so is the rest of Gotye’s latest album.
It came as a complete surprise to me that this song could handle a reinvention, but Walk Off the Earth and Sarah Blackwood recently got together and recorded this astounding cover. Once again, the video is every bit as thrilling as the song and I had goosebumps!
Such a perfect tribute to the original. I think I’d better go and find out what else this band can do…
José González – Heartbeats / La Mar (The Ocean) – The Beautiful Girls / Stuff and Nonsense – Missy Higgins / Girl with the Red Balloon – The Civil Wars / History’s Door – Husky / Darlin’ Won’t You Come? – Bob Evans / Biding My Time – Busby Marou / Falling Aeroplanes – Darren Hanlon / Give Me Tonight – Art of Fighting / Love Is All – The Tallest Man on Earth / Treehouse Song – Nina Nastasia / Trailed – Gossling
I made this cute little mix tape tonight, and thought I’d share it with everybody here! It’s mostly mellow, acoustic tracks and there’s a bunch of great Australian singer/songwriters in the mix too. It’s the sort of thing that you should listen to at night, I think.
Get comfy (hot chocolate is optional, but recommended) and enjoy the pretty tunes!
RSS buddies: if you don’t see a little flash player at the top of this post you might need to click through to my site to play it.
Day 2: Your Closet
Today’s photo for the 30 Day Challenge is a little collection of my favourite colourful dresses.
Little blog, I have been very unkind to you this month. I’ve been having a little too much fun offline!
I have lots to write about over the next few weeks, but I thought I’d start by sharing this beautiful tune by Charlene Soraia while I figure out what to write about next. Apparently this song was used in a Twinings commercial in the UK and now I need to find out what else she’s recorded!
Early each morning I am greeted with this pretty view from my bedroom window. Is it any wonder that I can’t seem to get out of bed and take myself off to work? Do you think my boss would understand if I was an hour late?
If I was my boss, I would understand.
This morning I took a couple of minutes to soak in all the colours, and I realised that I had Nick Drake’s From the Morning floating through my head. It was the perfect soundtrack to this pretty, pretty morning.
From the Morning – Nick Drake
A day once dawned, and it was beautiful A day once dawned from the ground Then the night she fell And the air was beautiful The night she fell all around.
So look see the days The endless coloured ways And go play the game that you learned From the morning.
And now we rise And we are everywhere And now we rise from the ground And see she flies And she is everywhere See she flies all around
So look see the sights The endless summer nights And go play the game that you leared From the morning.
It’s been a while since Gotye released an album, but it was so worth the wait! Somebody That I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra) is one of the best singles of the year, and for the past few weeks it’s been renting a big chunk of space in my brain that I probably need for thinkin’ good and stuff. Oh well.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to seek out the video, but for the past week I’ve played it over (and over) and I had to share it here.
It really has to be said that Gotye and Kimbra are magical together.
Speaking of Kimbra, are there some shades of Regina Spektor in there, sometimes? I’m not sure, but whatever she is doing I hope she doesn’t stop. Such a breath of fresh air.
Oh wait, I’m supposed to be posting a photo every day this month! Here’s a photo of the Walter White paper doll that I spotted tonight and printed as soon as I could! We are so obsessed with Breaking Bad in this house.
I heard this magical song by Emma Louise for the first time last week, and was happy to discover that she’s a Brisbane/Cairns girl like me. I bought her EP Full Hearts & Empty Rooms a few days ago and it’s been on a constant loop ever since.
This was the only version of the song that I’ve been able to track down online, and it seems to be an older recording than the one that made it to the EP. I love the raw beauty of this version.
(If you’re reading this via an RSS reader, and there is no flash audio player above, please click through to listen)
I met a boy who made me cry
He said, “stay away from my kind”
I said I appreciated his honesty
And I stayed away for a while
Then he cried and I laughed on the telephone
and we talked for hours
He says he wants to be a rock star, well so do I
so I guess it would never work
But on these summer nights when the weather’s fine
I miss him by my side
oh, by my side
And when the wind blows west from the hills
on these April nights I think of him
Oh the boy who surely taught me how to love
showed me how to trust, and I gave in
And oh, our love it was strong, it was so deep and we were young
and I was a little bit naive
But still how I was in his arms for 1000 sundowns
it was a love worth remembering
And on these summer nights when the weather’s fine
I miss him by my side
oh, by my side
And oh, my darling, say that you miss me too
on these summer nights
you miss me by your side
I know, I know I’ll see your face at the gates of heaven
when it’s my turn to go
But, oh Lord, please do not pass judgement on us
we were but young and full of love
And, oh please, let me cry in his arms just once more
for 1000 sundowns
for 1000 sundowns
There is more info at her Myspace and Facebook profiles. Hopefully a website (and album!) isn’t too far away.
I’ll leave you with Jungle, which has been the most popular single from the EP. There are big things ahead for this girl.
I might be a little late to the party, but the first time I heard this song was this morning on my way to work. Busby Marou was doing this week’s Like a Version for Triple J, and before covering Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun they played a gorgeous acoustic rendition of their own song, Biding My Time.
I have a habit of falling in love with beautiful acoustic ballads, so it was with trepidation that I checked out the original mixed recording. Turns out it’s just as good, and I’ve been playing it all day at work! And singing! In harmony!
So this cute song by Lulu and the Lampshades is pretty catchy, right?
A bunch of other people on YouTube thought so too! There are so many great covers of this song, and I think I might even like this first one as much as the original…
This video takes me back to my old life, when I used to stand on stage and deliver the shit out of a song. A song that resonated so deeply, and knew me so well, that it was both effortless and all-consuming to perform.
Every so often I remember how much I miss this. I live through people like Adele, who is doing it.
(Excuse me, I’m just wondering how I came to be 1700km away from my piano.)
I nearly committed sins against the NaBloPoMo gods by not writing a post in time today, but I’ll manage to scrape in 15 minutes before midnight!
I blame this awful Melbourne heatwave, the packed tram that I had to ride home, and the stench of B.O. in the air that I was utterly unable to get away from. By the time I got home I was really nauseous and needed to sleep it off.
(That sleep lasted a little longer than planned…)
I wish I was a Summer person, but I’m just not. I am really dreading the next few months.
Anyway, I’m lucky to have come across this Kate Nash song tonight, via Naturally Nina’s lovely blog, so that I have something to write about! In her post Nina compared Kate Nash to Regina Spektor, maybe because of her choice of instrumentation, but when I listened to this song it instantly made me think of Lily Allen. The accent makes that an easy comparison, but there’s something about her looks and attitude that makes me think that Lily has been a big influence.
The lyrics are pretty fantastic, and I love that the video managed to convey their suffocating relationship so cleverly using everyday domestic objects. It has certainly made me want to check out the rest of her stuff to see if it’s as good as this song.
Finally, I’m heading towards the pointy end of an extremely busy work week. I have so many half-written posts that I haven’t been able to finish this week, so instead I’d like to share this spectacular music video with everyone.
I like to listen to this song when my mind needs some serenity…
Today I discovered literal music videos, which probably makes me the last one to the party. And now I’m hooked!
As one YouTube commenter said, if I could double-favourite this I would!
At about the 2-minute mark I remember having to actively choose between watching and breathing, as I seemed to be unable to do both with all the laughter getting in the way. Other videos are less cleverly-written, but I did enjoy White Wedding and Take On Me.
I completed this task some time ago, but never wrote about it here to let you guys know. In fact, there have been a number of items that I’ve quietly completed over the past year and never reported here in my blog. I’m sad that I didn’t always force myself to write, because some of the details are lost forever. I know that my next 101 list will operate a little differently to this one; I guess I’m learning all the time.
Anyway, I was reminded of my own happy list recently while reading Rockstar Diaries – one of my new all-time favourite reads from the blogosphere. Taza (and husband) run this beautiful little blog about their lives and love, and every post brings a smile to my face. In particular, I’ve really been enjoying Taza’s recent here’s to happiness category, in which readers submit ten things that make them happy.
