Lorde is the latest breakout artist who actually spent very little time in the indie blog ether before making it not big but huge. (It’s important to consider the fact that she was signed on Universal Records3 years ago when she was only 13, so she was basically destined for the fame she’s garnering now.)
Reminds me of how Chloe Chaidez from KITTEN began singing on stage with Band of Horses early on in her career (when she was 11).
Anyway, Lorde is proving herself as New Zealand’s own Marina and the Diamonds but with a lighter sound (both in vocals and in beats – more closed hi-hats, less bass).
Is Noosa the new Lana Del Rey / Marina and the Diamonds?
Sultry, sensual songstress with heartbreak ballads. Some are electropop – making her the Marina of 2013. Some are slow, piano sad songs – much like Lana.
Hoodie Allen just dropped a new track called “Hey Now”!
I’ll post a well-deserved, longer post about how and why Hoodie Allen has been a positive influence on me for the past two years beginning with my first accidental discovery of “You Are Not a Robot” while searching for blogs discussing “I am Not a Robot” by Marina and the Diamonds and I guess what that has to do with my career and my love life at that point in my life.
Anyway, more later. Listen to this track right now first:
wires entangle my neck, my hair, my ears,
my entire body in a mess of rubber-encased wiring
electricity pulsing through these thin metal strips in rhythm with
what I think is what you would call a heart
The pulses of an encoded heart.
My heart.
when what is heard is now felt
these deep vibrations
pulsating,
mixed from right to left
and back and forth
a wave of electricity
hertz
it’s hertz
it hurts
I’m wrapped in the arms of the only thing that loves me
A machine connected to machine after machine
Replaced one by one.
Something shiny and new comes along.
A sleek, glass screen.
When what is heard is now felt.
The auditory embodiment of those lights pulsing.
Cold metal to my skin when all I want is your warmth.
I found out about Charli XCX completely by accident because of a mistake made by the Knocks/Popshop Radio.
I was listening to the Popshop Radio 12 mix by The Knocks and thought “Man, this really sounds like Feist if she went all electro” at the end. I went over to the Popshop site to see the track listing on the mix and at the very end, I saw “Nuclear Seasons” by Charli XCX.
Googled Charli XCX and found out her site offers that exact song as a free download. “SCORE!” I exclaimed in my head (because I already exclaim too many things out loud in front of other people – not that it mattered at that moment because I was alone at the time). Anyway, I plug in my info and download the song. Click the play triangle on iTunes and am surprised to realize it sounds nothing at all like the Feist-sound-a-like I heard earlier. In fact, Charli XCX sounds like Marina and the Diamonds but with more 80s-inspired, Madonna twinkly synths and boom-boom-ahhhhhs. I can’t remember exactly which 80s band/singer’s darker notes this reminds me of, but I’ll post that in when I do remember.
Maybe I was going about it the wrong way? the darker synths weren’t a female 80s pop star’s style but more Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”? DEFINITELY! It feels/sounds right.
ANYWAY…
Is this a NEW new wave? Neo-new wave? neu new wave? Awwwww… Just looked it up: I can’t patent “neu wave” or “Neu new wave” because 1) there’s a company called Neu Wave. I think it’s for acne medication, 2) there’s a band called “Neu!” (The exclamation is actually in their name. I don’t know if I’m excited about them just yet. I’ll have to listen to them first.), and 3) I’m pretty sure I’ve heard people talk about “new new wave” before or so. Damn
Newtro? as in New+retro? Neutro? Neutron. hahahaha
This entry charts the progression of what for all intents and purposes essentially was a relationship. It begins with the excitement of something new. The phone calls. The text messages. The concerts. The late summer nights. The jokes. The kisses snuck around corners. The photobooths.
Then it moves on to the confusion. The fights. The silence.
The denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression.
Then finally, acceptance of what for all intents and purposes essentially was the inevitable, eventual, drawn-out end.
I was in love.
These are my feelings. In order. From beginning to end. August 2010 to March 2011.
Another example of my Number Three Favorite Thing in the World is Kate McGill‘s cover of “California Gurls” by Katy Perry (featuring Snoop Dogg)! McGill takes a song that is originally full of late 80s hip-hop-inspired (think De La Soul, specifically “Me Myself and I” and their more recent track “Respect”) electropop intro and overall beats and semi-70s-funk reminiscent pop beat undertones and turns it into a slowed down, acoustic ballad.
I accidentally met Marina from Marina and the Diamonds before her set at PopScene!
Her set was amazing! I loved her short quips between songs, especially when she said “…and I only attract interesting audiences. That’s why I say it’s for you” before playing “The Outsider” and her quick discussion about a Gandhi quote before performing “Are You Satisfied?”
The place was packed with so many fans singing along to every word. Marina and the Diamonds started the set with “Shampain.” She segued into her next song, “The Outsider,” by teasing the audience a little with a dedication. (“And I only attract interesting audiences. That’s why I say it’s for you.”) After singing “Seventeen,” Marina commented “We have some interesting sounds on-stage with the monitors.” However, it did not even seem as if there was a problem because Marina’s voice is as strong and amazing live as on the album! Marina continued the set with “I am Not a Robot,” “Numb,” “Oh No!” and then “Obsessions.” Marina discussed the Gandhi quote “Everything you do in life is insignificant, but it is important that you do it” to introduce her song “Are You Satisfied?” Quite fittingly, she continued her set with “Hollywood” and then finished off with “Guilty.” As she left the stage, the crowd chanted “One more song!” A few minutes later, Marina was back on stage performing “Mowgli’s Road,” a song that everyone kept cheering for during her set, to simultaneously satisfy her crowd’s song request and encore request.
Marina performing “Mowgli’s Road” during the encore
Is Noosa the new Lana Del Rey / Marina and the Diamonds?
