Something Special, Sexy, Wonderful...

So, I have decided to do a few music posts and see how it goes. I have an eclectic taste and love all kinds of music from house to hip hop to rock n roll. I'm no music snob, but I do feel that a lot of music in the charts at the moment lacks the soul and depth to be able to make you drift away to another place or emotion when listening to a tune. I find that modern RnB is often simple and materialistic lyrics over a trance or electro beat...a far cry from the original rhythm and blues which were the epitomy of soul. I also find a lot of commercial house music to be superficial and fickle. I feel that many young people have jumped on the David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia bandwagon, attracted to the idea of going to festivals, getting off their heads and jumping around to loud electronic music without actually taking any notice of what they are listening to. Fair play to Guetta, SHM et al for getting where they are, but to me their music has no groove or soul. Which brings me onto my final rant about today's music...dupstep. The dubstep we typically think of - or 'brostep' as it is sometimes referred to as - is not representative of the whole dubstep genre, and I have been pleasently suprised by some dubstep tunes which are absolutely stunning. However, to me, the commercial dupstep many people are into at the moment, is just noise...gosh I sound like my mother - I must be getting old!


Like I said, I don't want to come across as snobby; I listen to an extremely broad range and I am not slating all commercial music. There are a lot of (a few) mainstream artists who I massively respect and love listening to, and I will be including these in my blog. I just think music in general has lost a lot of the emotion it used to have, and many artists today are more concerned about their brand than their music.


Anyway, enough complaining for now, and onto something positive - the reason I came back to my blog. I love searching the web for new music, and I can happily spend hours doing so. As long as it has some depth, groove, soul, bass and a bit of sexiness I will enjoy it no matter what the genre. So I thought I would share with you a few little gems I have come across.

1. Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans

Here is an example of an popular artist I could listen to all day. When a song gives me goosebumps like this one does there is no reason why it should not be topping the charts. The haunting vocals are full of raw emotion, and to be fair I don't think anything that came out of those amazing lips could not make you want to stop and listen.

2. Jamie Woon - Spirits

It is hard to pick a Jamie Woon song to feature as his whole album "Mirrorwriting" is just amazing. I first heard of him about a year ago and this was the video which introduced me to him. Notice how he is creating the whole track by sampling and looping his own vocals.

3. Azari & III - Into the Night (Nicolas Jaar remix)

Nicolas Jaar is an absolute musical genius. He was 18 when he had his first release on Wolf and Lamb music. Some of his stuff is a bit too minimal and plinky plonky for me..maybe I just don't "get" some of it, but I think this remix is absolutely beautiful. Just crank up your speakers, close your eyes and let it take you away...

4. Little Dragon - Ritual Union (Maya Jane Coles remix)

I'd not heard much of Little Dragon's stuff unitl recently and I intend to feature them again in my blog. The original of this song is brilliant too but I thought I would post Maya Jane Coles' remix as I heard it first and I love the dark moody baseline. I find that, especially after winning DJ Mag's Best Producer, Maya can be slightly overrated, but there is no doubt that she has produced some fantastic tracks and I'm sure she will be featured again too.

5. The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby (Jozif edit)

My dad is a huge Beatles fan, so I couldn't find this and not include it in my blog, especially as the strings in it also massively relate to my family as my mum is a violin teacher and my sister plays the cello. I heard it last summer on a Jozif podcast and managed to find it a few months ago on YouTube. Jozif is a brilliant house DJ and producer from London and I've loved every set of his that I've seen. He always looks like he's enjoying himself and he absolutely buzzes off the music which is what I like to see!

6. Daniel Bortz - Boyz 2 Men

Another hauntingly beautiful track. My boyfriend found this about six months ago and I have been in love with it ever since. The wailing vocal and echoing piano riffs tell a story full of sadness and pain, but the tune is also somewhat uplifting at the same time. Daniel Bortz uses a lot of vocals from old R&B tunes which could explain why I enjoy his tracks so much.

7. Dilated Peoples - Worst Comes to Worst

I want each blog post to cover a wide range of genres, so I thought I'd include a hip hop tune which reminds me of my school days. They don't make 'em like this anymore, do they? Or maybe they do...I find that if you look hard enough there is endless good music out there, you just have to try to find it rather than relying on what is played on the radio.

8. Dr Dre and Eminem - Forgot About Dre

I bought Dre's "2001" album when I was about 14 to impress the boy I fancied, but after listening to it I fell in love with hip hop. I also fell in love with Eminem around the same time, and the infatuation has never really disappeared. I suppose I have stopped listening to any of his newer stuff but I still know every single word to his Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers LPs and I still love listening to them now as much as ever.

9. Ice Cube - Today was a Good Day

What can I say...a hip hop classic. Don't think I've ever met anyone who dislikes this song.

10. Incubus - Drive

I was getting a bit stuck on the hip hop vibe there so thought I'd change it up a bit. Before I listened to hip hop I loved alternative, rock, indie, grunge music. The baggy trousers, chains and dog collars have disappeared but I do like to keep a bit of a grungey feel to my fashion. And I still listen to a lot of the music I did back then. Incubus' "Make Yourself" and "Morning View" albums certainly got a fair few plays on my stereo during my early teens so listening to these songs sparks those nostalgic butterflies in my tummy!

11. The Weeknd - Wicked Games

I was introduced to the Weeknd by a friend last year and immediatley fell in love. His music is soo deep and sexy. He has done a lot of work with Drake and I predict that he will be huge by the end of the year. For me this is what rnb should be - smooth, sexy and soulful. A lot of his songs also have dubsteppy type backbeats which just grip your heartstrings. Heaven!

12. DJ T feat Khan - Leavin Me (Daniel Bortz remix)

Yet another gorgeous deep house track with eerie vocals and a moody baseline. Daniel Bortz never fails to deliver.

13. Massive Attack feat. Hope Sandoval - Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Remix)

This track means a lot to me. There were just a few of us left at the end of a house party a couple of years ago and a friend of mine played this song to us. The whole room went silent and we just sat there listening to this beautiful tune. We didn't all know each other that well at the time but we have been close friends since, and I like to think this song bonded us a group. I have listened to it countless times since then and I still get goosebumps every time. It is just magical to me and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do - plug your speakers in so you can appreciate the bass.

14. Delilah - I Can Feel You

There are a lot of these young female vocalists around at the moment - the Lana Del Rays, the Birdies, the Emeli Sandes and the Delilahs. All these girls have beautiful and unique voices and many of their songs are truely stunning. I don't know if I would like to listen to a whole album of this type of music but I love the simplicity and the emotion in songs such as this one by Delilah.

15. Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box

Here's my grunge past coming out again. I was going to post Come As You Are as I love the bass guitar riff but I thought I would post a slightly less well known Nirvana song. Enjoy..

16. Fink - Pills in my Pocket

I discovered Fink a few months ago. I keep meaning to listen to some more of his stuff and after listening to this again today I will make it a priority. It's nice to hear decent British indie music like this and after doing some research I've just discovered that he used to produce ambient techno and has worked with Amy Winehouse. I'll definitely be looking more into his music!

17. Frank Ocean - Thinking About You

This tune has a similar vibe to The Weeknd's stuff. His voice is absolutely gorgeous - that Pharrell Williams-esque falsetto vocal just makes you want to do naughty things! And the dubby beat just gives it another level.

18. Blood Orange - Bad Girls

I love the 80s feel to this song. I'm thinking Depeche Mode meets Human League. I am downloading their album as I type!

19. Shorterz and Enigma ft Little Palm - Rag Doll

This is an example of how dubstep can be beautiful. I think this type of dubstep is now referred to as "liquid" or "future" dubstep, but who cares about names of genres, just listen to the music and enjoy! This tune is that extra bit special as Shorterz is a local Birmingham boy who is a regularly plays at The Rainbow which is my favourite venue in the country.

20. Miguel Campbell - Something Special

Had to shout out, Miguel for giving me the title of this post. This sexual track has been played (almost) to death throughout 2011 and deservedly won DJ Mag's Best Dance Single. If this doesn't make you groove then nothing will!

I realise that 20 songs is probably too many for one blog post but I just got so carried away as there is so much music I want to include! I will wait a while to do my next post to give you time to listen to all these songs as I would really appreciate feedback. I promise to try to make my next post shorter so please bare with me!

Thanks very much for reading/listening, and well done for reaching the end of the post!

x