By vikkichowney on September 24, 2010
For the second time in a week, my attention has been grabbed (meerkat-style) by the music playing in a television advert. For years I’ve thought that ads created for a European audience have some of most appropriate and top quality soundtracks of any in the world, so it’s not a new thing. But as the amount of time I spend watching the TV declines, it’s not as regular an occurrence.
It’s often an electro beat that makes my ears prick (Smart’s choice of Stomax’s Midnight Mutations for its latest ‘fortwo’ model originally inspired me to write this), but sometimes it’s the riff of a dirty hip hop baseline that puts butterflies in my stomach. Other times it will be a heartfelt piece of instrumental that mirrors so exquisitely the emotive story line of a show. In fact, it was the gut-wrenching piano solo – Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi – from one of the This is England 86′ trailers that sparked the conversation again tonight.
My earliest recollection of an ad truly creating a branded ‘hit’ was Levi’s project with Mr Oizo/Flat Eric, but this is something different. This is about discovery. I actually find that I’ll wander off down strange paths and new playlists (case in point, the This is England 86′ soundtrack is BLINDING and I was reunited with Fatlip’s Today’s Your Day)
Can I always remember the brand that got me there in the first place? God no (I had to go looking for the Smart ad above, and it took a while). But I remember the visuals and the music. Maybe that’s just because my mind is wired like that, but just maybe there’s an untapped opportunity to tie the two together in a smarter way, like Levi’s achieved in a way few have been able to replicate.
In the meantime, I urge you to listen to the tunes above. The Fatlip track in particular makes for a great accomplishment to a run in the sunshine.
Posted in Music, PR & Marketing |
By vikkichowney on August 25, 2010
I have a huge amount of respect for anyone who can be fluid with their musical career. Though decade-long stints in a band, maintaining a certain level of quality throughout is tough (I’m looking at you Jagger), taking part in multiple projects AND STILL producing great music is in my opinion even harder.
I’ve been a fan of Haines largely through her work with Metric, but her solo albums (under Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton) and contributions to Broken Social Scene – which also features Feist, another talented Canadian – are worth checking out. She’s also appeared on tracks with MSTRKRFT, Stars, Delerium and even Tiesto.
The track Help I’m Alive shows off her voice to full effect. It’s delicate and in parts sickly-sweet – identical to that of Inara George from The Bird and the Bee – but when paired with an earworm of an electric guitar riff, the two compliment each other more than you’d imagine. Gold Guns Girls (probably Metric’s best known song)  pushes this even further and shows clear influence from Garbage’s Shirley Manson, as well as a hint of Chrissie Hynde.
Some of Metric’s tracks are a little ’emo’ for my liking (a yet-to-be released track called Eclipse is due to appear on the next Twilight soundtrack for instance), but when the stars align – it’s beautiful. Black Sheep is the type of song that makes becoming a rockstar seem achievable to a young girl (which I believe is in no small part the reason that Edgar Wright chose it as the soundtrack for Envy Adams’ band The Clash at Demonhead in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World).
All this without even taking note of how smack-me-in-the-face cool she is. I actually think I might have to swap out Alison ‘all my songs sound the same and have done for the past three years’ Goldfrapp for Haines in my dream ‘Come Dine With Me’ line-up. This currently includes girls I can drink red wine with and play Stevie Nicks REALLY LOUDLY (Karen-O, Florence, Roisin Murphy, Alice Russell and Drew Barrymore).
One day…
Posted in Music |
By vikkichowney on August 20, 2010
Me and the boy were lucky enough to go to the European premiere of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on Wednesday. My 140 character review, posted just an hour after the film ended, was as you can see to the right.
It’s now Friday, and I’m tearing my hair out to get hold of a preview of the aforementioned soundtrack. The music bloggers are having a fit, I’m already changing my *laminated* ‘top five albums of all time’ list and Spinner seems to be rickrolling people by directing them to Brian Wilson’s new LP.
I liked the film, it was fun, but you all know where my heart lies. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a soundtrack since Empire Records, which was FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, and I was too young to understand what they were singing about anyway. Though it did introduce me to one of my favourite songs, which I listen to religiously every morning at 10am. But I digress.
I’ve managed to cobble together the ENTIRE playlist by linking to Hype Machine and Youtube. It’s not perfect, but if you sign up for a profile and ‘like’ the tracks on Hype, that’s the best you’ll get till August 23rd.
Enjoy.
01) SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “We Are SEX BOB-OMBâ€
02) Plumtree: “Scott Pilgrimâ€
03) Frank Black: “I Heard Ramona Singâ€
04) Beachwood Sparks: “By Your Sideâ€
05) Black Lips: “O Katrina!â€
06) Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): “I’m So Sad, So Very, Very Sadâ€
07) Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): “We Hate You Please Dieâ€
08) SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Garbage Truckâ€
09) T. Rex: “Teenage Dreamâ€
10) The Bluetones: “Sleazy Bed Trackâ€
11) Blood Red Shoes: “It’s Getting Boring by the Seaâ€
12) Metric: “Black Sheepâ€
13) SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Thresholdâ€
14) Broken Social Scene – “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl”
15) The Rolling Stones: “Under My Thumbâ€
16) Beck: “Ramona (Acoustic)â€
17) Beck: “Ramonaâ€
18) SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Summertimeâ€
19) Brian LeBarton: “Threshold 8 Bitâ€
Posted in Music, New music, Playlists, Review |
By vikkichowney on August 19, 2010
First up, a code from Mr Scruff to download a one-hour recording from one of his gigs. Picked up at The Big Chill (though unlikely to be a session from there to be honest), but still a perfect sixty-minute soundtrack to productivity. I’m not sure when this will run out though, so visit http://mrscruff.com, click the ‘download code’ icon and tap in krA4C8 – sharpish.
Second. Something from Two Door Cinema Club too. Good times. In their own words:
“As a little treat to help you along through the Summer we thought you might like a free download of one of our early demos of “Hands off my Cash, Monty” – which we’ve never released. You’ll also find in the bundle, a live video clip of “Cigarettes in the Theatre” taken from our forthcoming documentary, filmed at Nouveau Casino in Paris back in February by our friends Babysweet.”
Posted in Festivals, Music, New music |
Can I always remember the brand that got me there in the first place? God no (I had to go looking for the Smart ad above, and it took a while). But I remember the visuals and the music. Maybe that’s just because my mind is wired like that, but just maybe there’s an untapped opportunity to tie the two together in a smarter way, like Levi’s achieved in a way few have been able to replicate.
