Record of the Day: Best Coast - Boyfriend

I LOVE this band. They've been described to me as surf pop, which I guess is appropriate because listening to them does make me feel I should be in an episode of the O.C or something. They're from LA and they're made up of singer and guitarist Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno who does everything else it seems. There's a special place in my heart for sandy low-fidelity pop, particularly at this time of the year when I very much resent having to live through London's summers. Just because it's June mother it does not mean that I'm not allowed to wear tights and boots, it's fucking cold! Anyway, their debut album Crazy For You  was released in 2010 on the label Mexican Summer in the US and Wichita Records over here, and believe me when I tell you it's BRILLIANT. Their new album The Only Place released this year goes on in the same marvellous vein of fuzzy Beach Boys vs. Riot Guurl rock, but with a slightly more professional sound to the recording. Plus Bethany is one of those people who makes you look at yourself and realise how ultimately uncool you are. Love her.

Record of the Day: Best Coast - Boyfriend (from Crazy For You, 2010 - Witchita Records)

Record of the Day: Haim - Forever

Sometimes I get a bit ungrateful and forget that I work in a VERY cool place. It's 11am and all I've done this morning at work is sit in a meeting room, eating pain au chocolats, listening to new music my company is bringing out. A bit cool I think. It's a very odd record company tradition for groups of people to sit in meeting rooms in silence listening to whole albums, nodding their heads occasionally in appreciation and then discussing their thoughts - apparently this has always happened since the dawn of the record label. It does seem a little strange that people couldn't just listen to the albums on their own time but I'm not going to complain about a free hour or so from work.

So a little gem that came out of this morning's meeting was this! It's a band called Haim, made up of three sisters (with the last name Haim...kinda like Hanson but also really really not) from Los Angeles. To be honest, I really don't have any more info other than that! I believe they are about to be or are in the process of being signed to Polydor in the UK and one of our west coast labels in the States but who knows! Just enjoy this BRILLIANT video, which I believe they made themselves. LOVE it.

Record of the Day: Haim - Forever (2011)

Record of the Day: Under the Sea! - Little Mermaid

Today is Wold Ocean Day! I know it's sounds made up but it's completely legit and it means I can play you a song from the Little Mermaid!! No words are necessary.

Record of the Day: Under the Sea (from The Little Mermaid, 1989, performed by Samuel E. Wright - Walt Disney Records)

Record of the Day: Meredith Brooks - Bitch

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and have a general bad feeling about not just the day ahead but literally everything and everyone in the entire world. You have no patience for anyone/anything and you're fully aware that it would probably be best for everyone that you may encounter that day for you to stay in a dark room away from humanity until it passes. Unfortunately, it's not really acceptable to call work to say you're not coming in because you hate everyone so you have to go, and god help those who get in your way.

I must say this is a rare occurrence for me, I'm generally quite an overly happy (possibly annoyingly so...) person but today has been one of those days. The fact that the rest of my office is still alive is really just a testament of my self control aided by a lot of kit kats. So to celebrate my horrifically bad mood here's a FANTASTIC record. And if you don't like it, then fuck off.

Record of the Day: Meredith Brooks - Bitch (from Blurring The Edges, 1997 - Capitol Records)

Record of the Day: U2 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For..

I'm a pretty massive U2 fan, which is surprising considering I don't appear to be a dramatic socially and morally conscious 35 year old man with thick rimmed glasses disappointed at the world, but also really not surprising if you know me at all and know that I am in fact a dramatic socially and morally conscious 35 year old (possibly more like 50) man with thick rimmed glasses disappointed at the world trapped in the body of a 22 year old girl with contacts and the occasional burst of social awkwardness. Yay for me! So, I love U2. It was difficult for me to even choose my favourite song because I felt bad for all the other songs every time I did! What's so wonderful about their music is I never felt like there was a single throwaway note or lyric - like everything was placed exactly where it was supposed to be. And I'm sure you've all heard a song and it makes you feel like the band has literally taken the words right out of your brain and muddled them up so they sound way more coherent and probably rhyme and put them to music? Well, that's how I feel all the time when I listen to U2. Eventually I chose this song, but not because I like it more than the others, just because I felt it appropriate at the moment :)


Record of the Day: U2 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Live in Milan) (from The Joshua Tree, 1987 - Island Records - yay for us!)

Record of the Day: Playing for Change - Stand By Me

My housemate sent me this video after we heard the honestly quite appalling song Gary Barlow wrote for the Jubilee, in which he went around the world recording excepts to then put together to create a song. I'm a MASSIVE Take That fan, and Gary fan for that matter, but I really don't think it worked. It sounds like a mediocre school choir, which is a shame because both me and my housemate were hoping for something more epic/Never Forget style... Anyways, after hearing Gary's song she told me about this project called 'Playing for Change' that began a few years ago and that our company had released some records for. It started in 2004 with their goal to "inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music" and the creators of the project, Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono, travelled around the world using mobile recording equipment to record local musicians performing the same songs in their own style. Their first single, the video I've chosen today, began in Santa Monica with a street performer called Roger Ridley. The video includes performances by musicians in the US, Spain, Africa, Italy and others, and has so far had over 42 million hits on YouTube! It really is quite lovely to watch and reminds me what a universal language music is :)

Record of the Day: Playing for Change - Stand By Me (from Playing For Change: Songs Around The World, 2009 - Concord Music Group)

Record of the Day: John Mayer - Shadow Days

So, I don't want to be one of those dicks/hipster people who go on and on about how they have liked an artist or a movie or an actor since the beginning of time before everyone else, which then gives them some kind of claim over that artist/movie/actor but HONESTLY that is what happened with me and John Mayer! Seriously. I bought his very first EP Inside Wants Out about 10 years ago now (by the way - best EP I've ever heard by far) and have been completely in love with his music ever since. I mean, that dude KNOWS how to write a song. I know he's kind of an asshole in real life but I just don't care, he voice makes me block it all out. I've seen him twice now and was absolutely not disappointed. I particularly like that he brings a big Persian carpet with him to all his gigs to stand on. I enjoy a good artist quirk.

It's been a while since I've done a top 5 soooo....my top 5 John Mayer records go something like this (with some super cool live versions):

5. Your Body Is a Wonderland (from Room for Squares, 2001) Here's a nice acoustic version:

4. Comfortable (from Inside Wants Out, 1999 / re-released 2002) Here's a live version that goes into his delicious cover of Tom Petty's Free Fallin' (FYI one of my favourite songs of all time - I like to think it's being sung to me because of the line "She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis"...)

3. Dreaming with a Broken Heart (from Continuum, 2006)

2. 3x5 (from Room for Squares, 2001)

1. Say (from The Bucket List OST, 2011) Here's the music video; this movie is absolutely heartbreaking by the way - but GREAT of course.

His fifth studio album was released last week and having it pre-ordered for months, it arrived at my work place last Tuesday and I sat and listened to the entire album in detail. As we're all weird music freaks at my office this is a thing many people I know do - really get to know an album - which I did. And now I want to marry the album and have little Grace-album babies with it because oh my god IT'S SO BLOODY GOOD. You'd think after 5 albums there would be a couple of duds on there but really really no! It's genius. Even more exciting is that the release of the album marks John's return to business after a two year break whilst he had a granuloma near his vocal chords removed - not gonna lie, this stressed me out A LOT but luckily his vocals are as stunning as ever. To sum up, I really like the album...I'll stop rambling now.

I've chosen my favourite so far (I'm sure my mind will change as I listen more, it always does) for today's record of the day, which also happens to be the first single from the album.

Record of the Day: John Mayer - Shadow Days (From Born and Raised, 2012 - Columbia/Sony Music - Damn them...)

My ULTIMATE John Mayer Spotify playlist: John Mayer