Friday Favourites

Ok so here come three Friday favourites thick and fast.

First off a corker from Alice Merton, real groove going on here…

Followed in quick succession by a luscious aural delight from Charlotte Gainsberg

And finally this killer from Janelle Monae which has been one of my favourite 180bpm running tracks for a couple of years now. 

That’s all folks hope you enjoyed them now go kick the weekend!

Donovan.

I’m off down a musical rabbit hole again ferreting out Friday Favourites.

So it starts with thinking what from my collection would make a good weekend kickoff, up pops Boogie 2nite by Booty Luv.

Now I know that Booty Luv are made up of former Big Brovaz members and so it makes sense to drop in a link to ‘Nu-flow’ which draws me back to the Saturday’s earworm from last week but I swerve that tangent.

But then I start digging into the detail.

Turns out the top Booty Luv singles are covers (I know, shocker!).

Boogie 2nite was originally performed by Tweet and “Don’t mess with my man” by Lucy Pearl, so I give them both a listen;

And as I listen to the original (above) Mr Earworm takes hold and transports me across to ‘Don’t’ by Mr Edward Sheeran.

There is somewhat more than just a titular similarity hear, although that’s not uncommon for the 8th most streamed artist on Spotify. (No Scrubs / Shape of You ?)

So this is rapidly turning into a Midweek post but who cares? I’m having fun. Party for one anybody?  🙂

Enjoy the rest of your Friday and party like Orson! 

Donovan.

PS the Single mix of Boogie 2nite was the Seamus Haji Big Love Edit (featured above),  not the version of audio that appeared in the official video release, which in case you’re interested was the remix by DB Boulevard which you can find here – not quite as “party” though. 

I have a trio of treats for you this Friday following a theme of lyrical advice for all across the ages.

Starting off with Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution will Not be Televised”. Funky, Flute-y, Jazzy, wordy, full of attitude, smarts, political and social commentary.

And if you like that, roll up for lovingly crafted, 21st century homage to Mr Heron, courtesy of Smoove, aka Steven Moove,  titularly 50% of soul-funksters Smoove and Turrell.

There is just a hint of Geordie twang in Ferank Manseed’s vocals, plenty of updated witty commentary, at least as much flute as the original, and a boat load more funk.

Finishing off this week’s Friday Favourites is further inciteful scribbling cleverly crafted by Mr Political Poet Scroobius Pip and accompanied by the casio-inspired bleeps and beats of Dan Le Sac

And if you fancy a hard-er-core dance version try this Flat Eric-Phat Beat mash/mix

Club away my party hearty friends, or as Cameo would say, Word Up!

Donovan, out.

OK I lied, couldn’t really go without popping in this bonus. This got played immediately before U2 came out on stage for their mass-multimedia extravaganza, Zoo TV. Fits right in on this post.

Friday Favorites time and this is real treat. I love this song from tUnE-yArDs, for it’s joyous sound, the rich vocal harmonies and the kooky unconventional writing.

There is a strong tribal feel to the rhythms, a couple the lyrics are in Haitian Creole French which would give a possible clue as to some of the cultural influences of the music.

The accompanying video is reminiscent of the kind of kids tv that I have spent many a semi-conscious hour enduring. Featuring vocalist Merrill Garbus, it feels like a cross between  Yo Gabba Gabba and The Wiggles.

Music trivia anoraks may be interested to know ‘Water Fountain’ (released in 2014 on 4AD) featured in the soundtrack to FIFA 15 and was also used in an advert for the Google Pixel phone.

Not your cup of tea? That’s ok more randomish picks out of my collection to come  each and every week. 

And tomorrow is weekend! 

Donovan

Having established some weeks ago my love of fast-talking mc’s, I’m adding another word-heavy lyrical-waxing to the Friday Favourites list. Whilst not quite in the same speed-league as Andy Cooper & The Allergies ‘Rock Rock’, this week’s musical literary madness comes courtesy of Danny Goffey’s alter-ego Vangoffey. 

“Race of Life” exploded into my world courtesy of a play on Shaun Keaveny’s Radio 6Music Breakfast show one morning. I fell in love with it immediately; cheeky spoken lyrics, evolutionary references abound and a catchy beat – what’s not to like?

As joyful as Bloodhound Gang’s “Bad Touch” (which I predict will make another appearance at some point) and a touch smoother to boot, the song offers a gentle reminder that every one of us are incredibly lucky to be alive; it was always far more probable that someone else would have been born in our place than us given the odds (which you can check here!)

It turns out that Danny Goffey has been on the music scene for quite some time, although formerly at the back of the stage, as Supergrass’s drummer. My musical ignorance never fails to amaze and delight me.

And in case you were wondering, the smartly dressed teen seen lip-syncing in the video is Danny’s youngest son, Frankie. 

That’s it for now. Tomorrow brings more written delights.

Donovan.

Friday favourites time rolls around again. This slot should be the easiest post of each week, all I have to do is pick a favourite tune and put it here. However without a reason, or a story that provides some justification to go with it there’s nothing for you to engage with.

If it’s a track you already know you’ll either like it, or not, and it’s probably not going to add anything to your day. If it’s one you don’t know however, then that’s a different story.

So my endeavours on Friday Favourites will vary depending on how well known I think the song is; if I drop a Fleetwood Mac classic in then you can expect a reasonably comprehensive explanation as to why it’s made the list (rather than assuming anyone else’s musical tastes). If it’s a track from an artist with limited audience awareness there may be less for me to say but I’ll be really keen to get feedback on whether you’ve heard it before, and if you like it (or not). A bit of validation is always good for the soul.

As the weeks pass by I’ll be adding all the Friday Favorites to a Spotify and YouTube Playlist.

This week’s track is another one of those Spotify “Discover Weekly’ discoveries. It is proving to be a continual source of genre-linked delights and for me, proves the algorithms they have churning away in the background are getting good at offering up relevant recommendations.

The Torpedo Boyz were not a band I’d heard of and it’s not that surprising, Wikipedia describes them as a German/Japanese electronic music duo and to my knowledge they have had very little exposure in the U.K. However several artists I regularly listen to like Skeewiff, Smoove and Lack of Afro had remixed their tracks – which would explain the reason ‘Are you talkin’ to me’ appeared on the recommended list.

It was a straight ‘like and save to playlist’ without even getting to the end of my first listen. The song’s monologue story delivered with a strange, almost central Americanesque tone combined with music that reminded me of the a couple of the songs from the soundtrack to the Playstation game Little Big Planet made it immediately appealing. It never fails to brighten my spirits and endless replays haven’t dampened the joy that it evokes.

So the answer to the question is yes, I am talking to you, and I hope you’ll be talking to me about these Friday Favourites. 

Subscribe to the blog (new form at the bottom of the page),  like/follow the facebook page, leave a comment or message, anything really.
That’s why we’re here, well why I’m here anyway 🙂

Tomorrow or the day after that, I’ll be here when you get back

Donovan.

Quick fire post tonight in the Friday Favourites section. Bringing some fast spitting lyrical bliss courtesy of Mr Andy Cooper and his Bristol buddies, the Allergies. About to release their third album in September this year, and finally tour the UK and Europe, Rock Rock appeared on album one –  “As We Do Our Thing“. 

I have previously attempted to match Mr Cooper and his amazingly dexterous dictations (he was even so kind as to send me an instrumental version of the track to work with in an attempt to impress my fiance at our wedding reception). Alas my attempts were more tongue-tied than the Cat in Red Dwarf.

For those of you who want to attempt the same, the lyrical version of the video is here for your karaoke delectation.

That’s it for now…Rock on out of here…

Donovan

PS. If anyone can help me work out why some you-tube videos fail to pull in a thumbnail drop me a line. It’d be much appreciated 🙂

Hauntingly beautiful.

That’s how I would describe this week’s Friday Favourite. I came across it, as I expect a large number of people did, when it was used for the theme music to the most excellent ‘Broen’, or ‘Bron’, depending on whether your native tongue is Danish or Swedish.

Known in the UK as ‘The Bridge’, the four seasons of subtitled serial-killer fayre provide some of the best non-US drama for over a decade. Imagine the darkness of the other Danish police drama ‘The Killing’, crossed with the likes of ‘In the line of duty’ and ‘The Fall’ and you are probably getting close. The dialogue is faultless and the storylines will keep you guessing long into each series.

As for the theme music (which is broadly why we’re here), well I think it speaks for itself. Listen to it alone, or with the expertly  matched and truly gorgeous visuals of the titular Øresund Bridge at the beginning of each episode. Written by Danish musicians  Jannis Noya Makrigiannis and Anders Rhedin and recorded by Makrigiannis with a collection of musicians as part of his project ‘Choir of Young Believers’. Released in Denmark in 2008 and across the rest of Europe in 2009 as part of the album ‘This is for the whites in your eyes’.

Treat yourself and take a few minutes to kick back and unwind to this enchanting melodic delight.

Donovan

First Friday favourite is a stonking upbeat tune to kick off the weekend. Featuring three class acts, DJ Krafty Kuts, Dynamite MC and Charli 2na (Jurassic 5, Breakestra) ‘It ain’t my fault’ is taken from the album ‘All 4 Corners’ which was released in May 2017

It ain’t my fault – Kraft Kuts and Dynamite MC on Youtube

Charli 2na and Krafty Kuts did an electric live set including this track at Shindig Festival back in May which I was lucky enough to catch.

Thoroughly recommend checking out each and every link above – there is a wealth of top dance, funk and beats and rap from the collective output of these guys.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/track/4sNSHzXcLSKAgWai7jyGUb?si=V7q345cZSEy66Mj1oJqHfg”/]

Enjoy the weekend peeps!

Donovan.