duffy - well well well
[oh my gosh, how quickly a highly buzzed act/voice can turn grating! maybe it's the fact that her voice just doesn't fit the modernized mode or just the fact that when you hear 'well well well' over and over again, you just want to punch a hole in the wall. ugh! hopefully the rest of the album is bearable!]
it's been a wonderfully strange busy summer for me careerwise and in the process, i am the first to admit that wongie's music blog has suffered along the way (ok, we basically stopped posting for two months). hopefully with fall coming, i'll be able to deal with some much needed time management and have this site back up and running regularly. if you've missed me, then here's a quickie treat of some gems that i've been in love with the past few months. more of these big postings to come this weekend, so come back again will ya!
vampire weekend - cape cod kwassa kwassa
[can you believe that we're already on single #4 off their self titled album? currently wowing them across the pond on the festival circuit, i can't wait to hear new material (fans post on youtube please!). want more vampire weekend, check out the awesome blog pretty much amazing for a lovely cover of fleetwood mac's classic song "everywhere"]
fleet foxes - white winter hymnal
[i can honestly listen to this song on a continuous loop for a good 5-6 times a day. call me choir nerd or just plain dorky, but this multi part vocal tune is just sweetly mesmerizing (still have no clue what they're singing about), much like the rest of their self titled album.]
duffy - stepping stone
[by the summer, i kind of put duffy's rockferry album aside (since i practically went to sleep with it every night throughout the spring), but all it takes is a simple moody video that brings her back in my good books. love loVE LOVE this song!]
adele - hometown glory
[the song is easily a year old, but a moving performance on so you think you can dance and the fact that the song got re-released in the uk just brought this tune back on my radar. if you haven't picked up adele's debut album 19 by now, then you really should drop everything and buy it now. i'm just saying...
coldplay - viva la vida
[the band kind of bum me out, but you can't deny just how amazing this single is. taken off the album viva la vida.]
noah and the whale - 5 years time
[the most 'fun fun fun' tune of the summer don't you think? this track might sound familiar to you stateside as the whistles playing alongside the current run of saturn car commercials. but for the rest of the world, appreciate the fact that you get to hear this daily on your top 40 radio. taken off the equally cute debut album peaceful the world lays me down.]
the chemical brothers - midnight madness
[taken off their upcoming 2cd collection brotherhood (you can also buy the solo singles only album which DOESN'T feature the full electronic battle weapon series, in which this track is taken off of) the chems celebrate their amazing career with all the hits that have rocked your speakers for the past 13 years. brilliant really.]
bloc party - mercury
[after announcing they were going to release a new album for the fall, bloc party jumped their own gun and put out intimacy as a digital release a few days later. oh the wacky world of music these days! if the fabulous current single is an indicator of what to expect, then go and get the album now!]
mates of state - my only offer
[cute cute cute song by the husband and wife team! taken off their equally sweet album re-arrange us]
css - left behind
[oh the freaky avant garde world of cansei de ser sexy, can you just imagine what an everyday conversation with this 5 piece must be like? hm... my head implodes just thinking of it. taken off their new album donkey (which rocks!!!)]
duffy - warwick avenue [link 2] [according to fansites, the original video had duffy walking around warwick avenue with balloons and red boots, instead we get an almost one shot of duffy crying. kind of calculated and distracting, especially when she doesn't wipe that mascara tear that smudges her face halfway the video. love the song though.]
duffy - mercy (dunproofin thankful mix) [link 2] [hot off her showcase performance in NYC, duffy continues to create buzz in the US with this re-shot version of her UK #1 smash. damn, does the duff-ster look great! already playlisted on VH1 and MTV, lets hope all this translates to crossover success! as a bonus, check out this great dunproofin remix of the song just for you!]
UPDATE 4/1: if you want to check out some more of duffy, go to MTV buzzworthy to see an exclusive interview.
i swear it felt like my birthday came early, when i managed to get into both the duffy and adele showcase last monday (thank you akemi and erica!)
sold out way in advance, it was a real shame that both of these talents were on at the same night because inevitably you had to compare the two back to back. first up was the lovely duffy performing with a full band at the hiro ballroom.
with her album rockferry due for a major US release in may, a larger percentage of attendees were fans familiar with her current UK success AND a contigent of high powered label folks (the amount of escalades at the entrance gave it away) that wanted to see how she does in front of a packed crowd.
dressed in a simple black dress, the songstress gave a polished performance that showcased her dynamic northern soul vocals, making every highlight from the album even better live. purring her love of new york city, the crowd just ate it up.
check out her opening song rockferry performed live here (warning BAD camerawork and crappy audio. but even then the lady performs perfectly)
or if you can't deal with shoddy framing, here is an idea of her performance through bbc radio 2's music club:
after 7 songs, i hopped out of the club and crossed town to joe's pub to check out adele.
different in vocal style, but like duffy, firmly appreciative of their soul/jazz musical influences, adele showed up on stage, apologised for having a bad cold and then went on to rip through a setlist of songs predominantly acoustic (if this is what a 'cold' voice sounds like, imagine a healthy fully functional one!)
happily cackling when she caught herself saying silly things, adele gave proper introductions before each song, explaining that she likes to do acoustic tours first because then people can appreciate the songs more when they hear the fully orchestrated album (which she announced will be released through columbia records in the US!).
check out her gorgeous redition of bob dylans "to make you feel my love" below!
so which performance did i end up enjoying more? to be fair, i didn't finish duffy's full set, but i think deep down i'm more on camp adele only cause i like the 'realness' she projected (heck, she said f**k a few times when she felt silly). both deserve massive love stateside and i can't wait to see them again in the coming months.
feist - i feel it all [link 2] [good ol feist returns on the video front with yet another fun joy of life (this time with FIREWORKS!) collaboration with patrick daughters. i wonder how many times they had to rehearse with this one?]
duffy - mercy [link 2] [hailing from wales, duffy has been working with bernard butler (suede) for the past two years, honing her songwriting and vocal skills before getting the record label red carpet push that seems to surround her the past month. if you haven't discovered this polished retro star yet, now's a great time to get in on the bandwagon before her album is released early march. i'm a fan!]
adele - chasing pavements [link 2] [with her debut album 19 just released and this current single at #2 for the 2nd week in the UK charts, i feel like my duty to push adele to the masses is pretty much done. at this point, this gal is already a 2008 success story in my book. if you want to check out her recent cover of the strokes' "last nite" on the bbc live lounge, click here]
dawn landes - twilight [link 2] [there's always something peaceful and poignant when i hear modern bluegrass (especially when a female voice is involved). with a fine line from being folk music, acts like gillian welch and alison krauss constantly enter my playlist with high regard. now i can add NYC based dawn landes into my mix. i've only heard a few tracks from her album fireproof, but what i have heard is just lush. twilight reminds me of something you would hear at a modern day last chance saloon (ironic that the video is set in a beauty parlour). sigh...]
gabriella cilmi - sweet about me [link 2] [working with hot UK producers xenomania (sugababes/girls aloud AND upcoming 2008 projects by annie/franz ferdinand), aussie born uk based gabriella cilmi is quickly being hailed at amy winehouse-lite. not sure if that's fair or accurate, but there is something interesting about her voice. hopefully her debut album will produce some better tunes other than this catchy, yet 'bleh', 1st single.]
PS: if you are totally feeling duffy, here are two more videos just for you:
jools holland's annual hootenanny feat duffy - first cut is the deepest [the annual all star show in which the ever amazing jools holland gathers together his favorite voices and invites them to perform on his amazing stage. this year duffy was brought into the mix and rightfully so. this is just wonderful!]
PSS: check out this cute cover version of peter bjorn and john's "young folk" by dawn landes!
