music and notes : : notes and music

I must confess that up until now the career of Lily Allen has barely caused a blip on my musical radar.

I mean, I should preface that by saying that I do live under a rock when it comes to most major pop stars these days. I had heard word of Allen, yes -- but had pretty much written her off as a fake and a media whore.

Then I heard a snippet of her tune "The Fear" on the UK show Skins. Actually, I didn't even know it was her at the time, I just heard: "...I'm packing plastic, and that's what makes my life so fucking fantastic".

Intrigued, and with absolutely no idea who it was, I plugged the lyric into Google, and hey presto: Lily Allen.

Then, of course, I had to swing over to YouTube to have a listen to the track, and now I think I may have played it, hmmm, I don't know, maybe around 500 times? Today.

I f**king love this song.

It's the way she skewers our celebrity-obsessed culture in rhyming couplets (and a Brit accent), over a beat so goddamn bouncy and catchy you're hooked faster than someone can say crack.

It's a clever song -- funny, ironic, and bang on.

Guess it's fair to say my estimation of Allen has changed somewhat? Guess so.

Here she is then, with "The Fear":




[Lily Allen - MySpace] [Artist website]

Labels: Brit-pop, Lily Allen, The Fear

I fell madly in love with Anika Moa's latest album during the two weeks I spent back home recently.

It's a gorgeous, summery treat: a perfect accompaniment to a lovely (but oh so brief!) holiday with family and friends.

You know when you have the stereo on in the background, though, and you really only give half an ear to the music? It wasn't till I got home (having been gifted the CD by my brother's boyfriend -- such a nice man) that I took a closer listen to the album. And I am now, well and truly, without a doubt, under its spell.

The disc in its entirety is a beautiful thing.

But the last third of the album? That's really something else.

You know when you hear a song and it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Sends a frission right the way up your spine, and then down again?

The two songs that I'm about to play do exactly that to me. I am quite honestly -- and quite thoroughly -- floored by these songs.

Here then, and without further ado, are "Standing in this fire" and "Thinking about tomorrow":




[Anika Moa - MySpace] [Buy Anika Moa's music at Smoke CDs]

Labels: Anika Moa, Folk, NZ, Pop