Hello droolycats, I am in transit again, which means it is time for another post from me. I have been down south in Canterbury, getting my medievalism on & presenting my research on gendered pronouns in Macbeth through [phrase i am fairly certain I made up]. The conference went well. Look, here's a picture of me looking like an idiot with my totebag & nametag!

but it is that time again-- time for things heather likes!

1. Nicki Minaj.
There are no words. I mean, have we heard her verse on Kanye West's "Monster"? Blows everyone out of the water. Anyway, her superb album Pink Friday just got a deluxe version rerelease, which you should check out. I could probably go on about her forever, but i will restrain myself. Here's one of the new tracks:


2. TuNe-YaRdS
Okay so everyone is talking about TuNe-YaRdS' new album W H O K I L L. The first time I heard it, I hated it! I hated it a lot. And then I revisited the album a few days later and "got it". Amazing stuff, actually. This is very droolycat-friendly music, I think.


3. The Magician
I've been doing some writing this past month, and I like listening to things that I can sort of tune out but keep me going when I write. The Magician is a DJ and his sets are excellent for writing to. He releases a mix tape monthly and does some pretty killer remixes (check out his lykke li remix here). Download his sets for free off of SoundCloud (which has some great stuff on it)

4. Till The World Ends
I love Britney Spears. There, I said it. Whatever, okay? I could listen to this song forever (and I have been). She's kind of the artist of our generation - she's the only pop musician from the early 90s to survive & still top the charts into 2011, so there's that. Whoa oh oh ohhhh...


What have you been listening to lately?

Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing (Director Tarik Saleh)

Quantic

 

 (picture I took while in London, 2009)

Whoa! Can it be? Posting again so soon? Yes. It occurred to me during painting class today that I should share my appreciation for Quantic before I would forget and get swept up in the daily madness cycle of end-of-year homework. I listened to this playlist while painting for three hours this morning and I found it (the beats especially) really helpful in keeping me concentrated and busy. This playlist was actually given to me by someone else when I was in high school, but I hadn't checked it out in awhile. Glad I did! I imagine it would also be a good playlist for exercising, it definitely was great for driving on this sunny day. I posted that London picture because Quantic reminds me of being in London, something to do with the energy of the city I guess. Quantic is actually Will Holland, a British guy, so I guess that makes sense. Don't you just want to run down that walkway to the garden beyond, while listening to Quantic? That's what I would do.

Strawberry Jam

 

(This picture is from Wired.com and it made me laugh out loud, so I hope you do too.)

Gah! It's been awhile since I last posted, life has been moving so fast lately. With graduation from college less than a month away, there are lots of changes going on for me right now. It can get overwhelming at times, but above all it's important to remember to breathe between ticking all the boxes and filling out forms. I've actually been sitting on this playlist for a week or two now, just taking my time and adding songs when I thought of it. It's called "Strawberry Jam" because those words are in the lyrics of one of the songs (can you guess which?). It's a good playlist for a backdrop to doing homework or relaxing, enjoy!

Los Gatos Drooly! Yo soy en Madrid por ahora!

In fact, I've been in Spain since Wednesday - Earlier this week I was presenting at a conference in Valencia, and I'm about to head back to Scotland tomorrow morning. I can't take a lot of time off for a vacation; I have to get ready for my next conference in 3 weeks' time...

But! Spain's beautiful; I took a bus from Madrid to Valencia and back again to see some of the countryside, But anyway, the Spanish countryside lots of greens and oranges and little shrubs in lines, some much more advanced than others, with the occasional half-an-ancient buidling and a couple little italian-esque mini towns of stacked houses here and there. Mostly I had to remember that I wasn't actually in Arizona or something, but SPAIN. Espana!

So what do we listen to during our time in sunny Spain, before we go back to rainy Glasgow?


Oh yes.

On my way through the desert I finally got around to listening to the Kills' new album, and I don't think I will ever not associate that experience with this album. Here's what hour 2 of the four hour bus journey feels like:

Sleepy March Mix

 

(pic I took at a diner in Brooklyn)

So, I went to New York City last week and it was gorgeous and 77 degrees. When I went shopping, I bought mostly spring dresses. Then I came home and it was rainy, snowy, and in the 30s. I'm wearing sweatpants and a tshirt. Where are you Spring?

Here is a rainy day mix...I'm starting to realize that all my playlists are weather themed lately. I do have some good ideas for my playlist after this, a specific theme. Most of the time I just listen to what feels good :)

Note: "Young Bride" has been stuck in my head for DAYS.

hello droolycats, it is time to talk about Things That Heather Likes! Otherwise known as "heather's latest musical obsessions, you are welcome."

1. "rolling in the deep" by adele
there is not much to say about this song other than "holy fucking shit". i don't know who has pissed her off so much but i would like to have her always be this upset if it will mean more albums like 21. Also, this video, omg etc.


2. jj's album "kills"
okay, so this is a swedish group that takes hot beats from pop music and adds sometimes tweaked, beautiful, ethereal vocals to the mix. think a very restrained girl talk + beach house. I am loving their mixtape kills (download for free).

they have a couple other albums that are less mixtape/sampley but still amazing (jj nº 2 and nº 3)

3. cut copy, "need you now"
there is some sort of neo-disco revival situation happening right now, which simultaneously makes me sort of upset (because, you guys, remember how embarrassing disco was?) and very, very happy. I imagine this is sort of fueled by the success of those 2 MGMT songs. I don't know if this is just a european/uk thing or if it's made it over to the states already, but get your ears excited!


4. the gaslight anthem
I don't know where i've been, but these guys are awesome. American Slang was the first album of theirs I heard, and it's very good, but The '59 Sound is awesome- sort of bruce springsteeny punk. they are also from new jersey. something must be in new jersey's water, or it has something to do with the perpetual smog cloud that lives there.


5. "get some" by lykke li
lykke li's new album is okay - not as good as youth novels, but this track is excellent. i have tickets to see her in april, but it turns out i'll be in spain at a conference. whoops. who wants to come to glasgow and see lykke li for me?


6. summer babes // a mix by sebastian barr
Sebastian is a Stranger From The Internet whose blog I follow; he posted this mix a couple of weeks ago and it's amazing. (it is through his blog that I found out about jj in the first place.) Now that it's warming up and we're all dreaming of summer and/or warmer climes, go download part 1 & part 2

You won't be disappointed. Get your beach hipster on!

Eismelt

Things are melting!

One of our running jokes is that we could probably start a (very strange) band out of the English studies department - we have a lot of people who are/have been in bands! For instance, I just found out that my two supervisors were in a punk band together for a while. To be honest, it's not hard to know people in bands here - almost everyone's in one (or two or three!)

Anyway, whenever someone in the department has a gig, we all usually try to go. Tonight my friend Alan had a gig. We love Alan, he wears Christmas sweaters year-round and spends lots of time staring blankly at the wall looking thoughtful instead of working. Here is his band; he's the singer & guitarist in the video. He sounds nothing like this in real life.


Basically, I had no idea who would follow Alan's melodic indie-folk-in-Christmas-sweaters music, but when Standard Hipsters practically clipped from an American Apparel ad started setting up I had moderately low expectations. They turned out to be this amazing postrock band. I should point out that Mogwai is from Glasgow, so we've got a bit of a postrock tradition here.

I really like postrock but it's difficult to pull it off correctly without being too heavy-handed or contrived. I don't really know how to describe Last Lungs, but you can stream their whole album here.

FLEET FOXES ARE BACK!!

I am beyond stoked.
Helplessness Blues will be released on May 3rd.
Yet another reason to look forward to Springtime. :)

Tour: Tuesday, May 17th they come to Boston! It's at the Orpheum. Tickets for that show just went on sale today at 10am, and are going fast. I just bought two tickets! See you there!

Edit: 2.18.2011
I just wanted to also post the lyrics to this song, because I thought they were pretty good.