XMAS MIX 2013: lily allen - somewhere only we know

lily allen - somewhere only we know
chosen as this years official theme song to the john lewis xmas campaign, lily allen covers the classic keane song and gets a wonderful visual accompaniment from this animated storyline. le sigh...

WONGIE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: keane - disconnected

keane - disconnected
[co-directed by the spanish duo of juan antonio bayona and sergio g sanchez (aka the director/screenwriter of the awesome horror flick 'the orphanage'), the video is an ode to the 70's gothic horror films. not too much of a fan of the keane song, but visually, this is prime!!!]

NEW KEANE!: keane feat k'naan - stop for a minute

keane feat k'naan - stop for a minute
[taken off their upcoming 'night train' EP, keane seems to be expanding their musicality by collaborating with rappers such as kanye west, tigarah and k'naan. not sure i'm digging this single, but i'm definitely curious enough to check out the rest of the collection when it comes out in may. if you're having trouble watching the video click here]

keane - spiralling (video premiere)

keane - spiralling [link 2]
[tom chaplin and co are back with the 1st single from their upcoming new album perfect symmetry. embracing a more synthesized and guitary sound this time around, the days of the shoegazing keane are behind them; welcome a poppier rock version 3.0! is it just me or does this track sound almost "chinois" in some parts? care to comment on the song?]

on the radar 2008: royworld - dust

royworld - dust [link 2]
[that's right, if you're missing out on a big-boombastic lush heart-on-your-sleeve kind of pop music, then hopefully this uk band will fill your void for the time being. heck, they even have keane producer andy green working with them, what more of a substitute do you want?]

various covers

i've been feeling kind of guilty for my lack of posts here and i thought i'd ease my conscience with a batch of covers done by some unexpected performers.

i'm actually a big fan of cover versions only because when it's done right, you get to see a side of an artist that they may not be able to express through their own music. i'm also a big fan of the mashing up of genres (hip hop sung by an indie band, folk by a heavy metal posse etc...).

besides the blogs, another great place to find these covers is at jo whiley (which is where i found alot of these). here are a few of my faves of the moment:

ray lamontagne - crazy (gnarls barkley cover)
osunlade and erro - everything in it's right place (radiohead cover)
natasha bedingfield - somewhere only we know (keane cover)
arctic monkeys - love machine (girls aloud cover)
starsailor - push the button (sugababes cover)
david gray - smile like you mean it (killers cover)
belle and sebastian - the boy with the thorn in his side (live) (smiths cover)

and a classic:
communards - never can say goodbye (classical mix) (gloria gaynor cover)