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131 Spotisfaction Friday – 29th October 2010 – Dave Christensen

I’m not sure if it’s WordPress being annoying, me failing, or people not refreshing their browsers before editing stuff (*cough*), but for some reason today’s post reverted back to it’s pre-edit version and we lost all the changes. So here, again, is Dave Christensen with his “2009” playlist. Thanks, fella.

Hopefully this now works!
Dave

Dave C Says:

Ahhh 2009, that was a good year, wasn”™t it? Nostalgia ain”™t what it used to be…

We have two great features on Spotisfaction ”“ Tomorrow”™s Sounds Today and Classics Collected. The first tries to introduce us to a new selection of albums with some clever connection. The other forces us to “blow the dust off some records” that we might not have heard for a while or might have missed. ‘Why is there no middle ground?’ I think, while I struggle to find a niche for myself as a new contributor here. Well, maybe I”™ve found it, or maybe this is just a single playlist. Yeah, it”™s just a playlist.

So, I made a massive playlist of albums that were released in 2009 and that I listened to loads last year, but not much since. Then I listened to the lot and narrowed it down to an appropriately sized playlist. I think these are some great tracks from mostly brilliant albums (not Phrazes For The Young, that was awful). I hope you enjoy it. If not, make your own damn 2009 playlist. It took bloody ages.

Dave

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130 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 27th October 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Afternoon all. Sorry for the website outage this morning – our provider had a bit of a hiccup (they managed to lose an entire datacentre, bless ’em), so we were out for most of the morning. Back now, though (uh, obviously otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this…), so apologies for the delay to the playlist today.

We’re running a little short on playlists at the moment – if you have an idea for a concept; if you have a story you’d like to tell with music; or if you just want to chuck a bunch of random tracks into Spotify, please send them our way and we’ll publish them.

Today’s playlist comes from Kev Atkinson and is entitled “The A-Z”. Brilliant concept, and a very enjoyable playlist. Thanks fella!

Laters,
Dave

Kev Says:

As a little side project on my personal blog I”™ve been creating a series of playlists with artists starting with the letter A and working my way towards Z. When I started on this project I quickly hit upon the problem of what to do with bands that began with “The”, did I ignore the “The” or did they all count as Ts? Well the decision I made was to discount any artist beginning with “The” and create a separate playlist for them. Once I started on this idea I took it one step further; could I do a complete playlist of artists beginning with The and then the following words going from A to Z? Well I came close and thanks to James for coming up with an I as I was completely stumped by that one.

Kev

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129 Spotisfaction Monday – 25th October 2010 – James TAE

Goood moorning Spotisfactionnn, gooood moorning eeverybody.

Hope you’re all well. London is both sunny and absolutely freezing at the moment, I think it’s going to be another iced-over winter. I’m looking forward to the days when I don’t have to come to work because of it. Then I can work on playlists all day, which is why we’re all here, right? Of course, you don’t want to hear from me all the time, and truth be told neither do most people here at the site, so make sure you get your best (and worst) playlists submitted to us. Check the Submission Guide on how to do so. Keep those playlists a-comin’!

My playlist today is entitled Poets Union, and it’s a collection of songs featuring my favourite verses, lines, spits and flows. You might look at the list and think that there are some dubious choices, but hopefully I present here an appreciable bunch of lyrics and performances. By way of a blurb, I think I’ll quote a favourite line or two from each of the songs. You can just leave this here and listen to the playlist, or read on for these snippets from the songs.

Take it easy
James

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128 Spotisfaction Friday – 22nd October 2010 – Paul ‘Fozz’ Foster

Morning kids. Got a pretty feature-packed day for you today which hopefully explains why the playlist is ever-so-slightly earlier than normal. Some good news to kick off with: Spotisfaction HQ is getting crowded these days as we’ve had a couple of newbies join our staff ranks – say hi to Dave Christensen, Rob Tite and Tom Girard. Look out for stuff from these fine chaps in the near future. We’re always looking for more content, just so you know, so get in touch if you want to join our illustrious ranks and write for Spotisfaction.

In other news, James TAE keeps stealing the biscuits, and Kev smells distressingly of booze – thank God it’s the weekend and I can get out of here! In the build up to escape-time, today’s playlist by Paul “Fozz” Foster is, frankly, stuffed full of relentless energy and has gotten me completely pumped up for the weekend. I’m sat here listening to The Bloody Beetroots and dancing around like a loon. Wahsomes, kudos to you Fozz.

Catch you next week, amigos.
Dave

Fozz Says:

There’s no particular theme to this playlist, it’s just a bunch of tracks that have caught my attention over the last few weeks. It does work best listened to at high volume though, at the risk of irritating your neighbours/housemates/parents.

I absolutely love each track for various different reasons so it’s hard to pick any stand-outs, I just hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I have.

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126 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 20th October 2010 – Simon Mogg

So, another Wednesday. I think Monday gets a bad rep, to be honest – all weekdays are pretty crap, not just Monday. And on that lovely note, happy birthday to contributor Ben Mercer! Love!

Anyway… Today’s playlist is by Simon Mogg and is entitled “The West Wing”. I’ll be honest, I never really watched it. I may need to bug you for the box sets…

Later!
Dave

Moggy Says:

There have been seven seasons of The West Wing. I’ve watched them all… a lot. I love everything about it. I think all elements of the show are of tremendous quality and that includes the choice of music. Other than W.G. Snuffy Walden’s incidental music, they pick a mixed selection of tracks to complement the episode that they are included in. Many tracks are very emotive, some very strange but most are just very good. Here is a playlist of some of the best from all seven seasons, in order.

The Yo-Yo Ma cello piece is absolutely beautiful. I very much like the tone of the cello. The Dire Straits track used at the end of season two really swells the mood of the season finale and helps create a dramatic climax. Tori Amos‘s very breathy version of ‘I don’t like Mondays’ is coupled with a storyline about a bomb in a school and adds a haunting feeling that can bring a tear to the eye. I could talk at length about the rest of the tracks as well but it would be dull for all of those who don’t know the show. I will just leave you with this advice: even if you skip the rest of the playlist, at least listen to Massive Attack, Steve Miller Band and the two Chopin piano pieces they are all brilliant in their own way.

Hit the link for info on which tracks came from which seasons.

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126 Spotisfaction Monday – 18th October 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Morning kids. Hopefully everyone had a fab weekend? Mine was pretty good. Saw MF Doom on Saturday night, and he was completely mind-blowingly incredible, as expected. The downside is that I’m completely pooped and I don’t really feel like I got enough sleep this weekend. Therefore, I’ve decided I’m going to sleep at my desk today. If you’re passing, bring me hot chocolate and biscuits, yeh?

Today’s playlist is by staff-member Kev Atkinson, and is entitled “Two Pigs”. A perfect hangover cure for a Monday that arrived far too quickly. Cheers Kev!

Later,
Dave

Kev Says:

This playlist is named after a nightclub in Cheltenham. The Two Pigs used to be one of my favourite places to go at the end of a night out, as it was a good place to hear a nice mix of alternative music, and you could drink and dance until a silly time in the morning.

The problem is that the last few times I”™ve been there the music selection has been too tame, too mainstream, and it feels like they have been pandering to the masses a bit too much. This is why I haven”™t been there for a while.

What I have done with this playlist is put together a few tracks and artists that I would like to hear more of (or in quite a few cases, at all) when I go to Two Pigs – basically this is the sort of thing you”™d hear if I had a DJ spot there!

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125 Spotisfaction Friday – 15th October 2010 – Dave Prowse

Morning folks. This week has been brutally busy for me – my wife and I told friends and family that we’re expecting a baby (woop!), so our feet haven’t really hit the floor between doctors appointments, dinner dates and showing people ultrasound photos. Fun times! Good thing I had a playlist in reserve, eh?

This weekend a few of us are going to see the DOOMTASTIC tour hit Bristol (tomorrow night, in fact), and it’s going to be mindblowing. MF Doom (plus his myriad alter egos), supported by Introducing (a nine-piece orchestra performing DJ Shadow‘s Endtroducing) and a DJ set by Jamie xx. Whoa. Tickets are still available, and I think I’ve got room in my car from the Gloucester area – let us know if you’re coming!

Love, etc.
Dave

My Blurb:

Today’s theme is movie scores. Each of the tracks are either from a film, inspired by a film (or vice versa) or were written by people famous for their film scores. I really enjoyed pulling this one together, and it’s amazing how you can find virtually any genre of music in a film somewhere. The thing I love about film music is that I always recollect the particular scene or moment in the film as I’m listening to the track, so this playlist was a real treat for me.

Hit the read more link for a list of where each track is from.

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124 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 13th October 2010 – Simon Mogg

Morning kids. Quite a busy one today, so I’ll keep it brief. If anyone is going to see Doom (with support from Dangermouse – can anyone say Dangerdoom tracks?!) in Bristol this weekend, a few Spotisfaction staffers will be in attendence – let’s get our brew on, y’all.

Today’s playlist is by staff member Simon “Moggy” Mogg and is entitled “Super Dooper Upbeat Happy Songs”, which I think is probably the best playlist title I’ve ever read.

Peace and love, and other stuff like that.
Dave

Moggy Says:

Here is my playlist of happy songs to make you dance… DANCE MONKEY BOY DANCE! Sorry about that, got a little over excited. So, these tracks are not all ‘good’ as such (I highlight Professor Green for example) but that does not necessarily matter. They are all bouncy and unpretentious, and all round good fun (in my opinion).

Young MC‘s ‘Bust A Move’ is a classic hip hop track and one I like because it is not about bling and it is not entirely full of swearing, which makes a nice change. I am always quite surprised when I enjoy a Black Eyed Peas song. The fact that Travis Barker has had his hot little hands all over this one doesnt hurt. Think I might have a bit of a man-crush on him.

I remember ‘Boombastic’ from the claymation Levi’s Advert in the 90s. Later in life I remember it being played in clubs and finding it hilarious watching men and women alike gyrating to it. Brilliant. ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ is just a purely brilliant track as is the Fatboy Slim remix of ‘Body Movin’. I think it is a vast improvement from the version off the Hello Nasty album.

So there it is. Enjoy it all. I know I will.
MOGGY

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123 Spotisfaction Monday – 11th October 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Morning everyone. Sorry for leaving you high and dry last week, but London was fun and mucho dancing occurred. Success, in my opinion. Errors/The Twilight Sad was one of the very best gigs I’ve been to, ever, and I’m still completely overwhelmed four days later. We’ll have a review for you shortly.

Just a quick reminder that we’re always after your content. If you would like to create a playlist, write a review or come up with an interesting feature, we’d love to hear from you. If the one-off thing doesn’t appeal and you’d like to get involved as a fully-fledged staff member, we’re also recruiting a couple of people to regularly create content for us.

Today’s playlist is by senior contributor Kev Atkinson, and is entitled “Heartfelt and Heartbroken”. It’s a beautiful playlist, and a thoroughly challenging listen. Thanks Kev.

See you guys soon,
Dave

Kev Says:

Ok I”™m going to get straight to the point: despite the first track in this playlist being Happiness by Grant Lee Buffalo, this is not a happy playlist. I wasn”™t in a good place when I started creating this playlist, and to be honest, the first drafts were even worse than the finished article.

What I”™ve ended up with is a collection of songs that either have some deep meaning for me or that I find just touch that deep part of my soul. And because of that, I”™m not going to go into detail as to the individual meanings of any of the tracks.

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122 Spotisfaction Friday – 8th October 2010 – Mike Sheldrick

Morning folks. I’m posting this via the magic of scheduled publishing… wooooo… let me know what Friday’s like yeah? I’ll keep it short and sweet today, since I’m away galivanting in London-town. Today’s playlist comes from staff member Mike Sheldrick and is entitled “Easy Sunday”. Enjoy!

Love,
Dave

Mike Says:

Well hello again my friends. Today, the aim of the game is to relax. It seems to me that in this ever rushed, fast paced lifestyle we find ourselves in, seldom do we make time to sit down, relax and enjoy a little bit of quiet time. With this in mind, I have selected a small collection of tunes with the simple task of soothing the soul. So, I hope you find yourself in a position to perhaps put your feet up, relax, and let the gentle tones of today”™s track list refresh your mind.

We start with Lionel Richie, and I think you”™ll agree, a very ”˜Easy”™ way to introduce our theme. And in turn, I can think of no better way to conclude than with What a Wonderful World. Last time I heard it, myself and my better half were on a bus, on a daytrip from Rhodes town on the way back to our apartment. Without wishing to sound like a total wettie, it literally brought a tear to my eye. And I must say, it is delightful to be reminded of the power of music from time to time. But anyways, enough from me, I”™ll let Gomez and co speak for themselves. So yes, it may be autumn, but hang it. Open the window, for ”˜Here Comes The Breeze”™! Enjoy!

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121 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 6th October 2010 – James TAE

‘Ow doos. Dave is busy getting ready to come to Londonium, so I’m taking over the site today. And, shamelessly, I’m putting up one of my own playlists, deal. This one is a list of the best music that, I feel, has come out of Scotland. Being half Scottish (you didn’t know that? I’m sure I mentioned it. No, I definitely mentioned it) I love the personality (some would say I have a bit of it) and the place has generated some really great music (Bagpipe Reggae aside). A couple of these bands I shall be seeing with Davey boy on Thursday, so keep an eye-out for a joint review. Between us we’ll no doubt be updating our Twitter feeds with our escapades.
James

Me Says:

I was late to the Frightened Rabbit party, but vocalist Scott Hutchison is a fantastic example of the humourous cynicism and straight-up ‘don’t mince your words’ vocabulary I love. The Twilight Sad take both bleakness and being in your face to even further extremes, and I have to say that their indie/folk/wall-of-noise sound has been owning my ear drums for the last couple of years. I even met the band after a show once, got them to open their own album with their teeth and then sign the front cover.

I encourage you to follow the narrative of the James Yorkston track – don’t worry, I found the opening lines particularly cliché-ridden too, but, by the final line of the track, hopefully you’ll see that that’s the point.

Mogwai don’t need any introduction, but for me they are, along with Godspeed You(!) Black Emperor(!) they are at the pinnacle of post-rock.

The overblown Biffy Clyro are brought right back down to earth with the frankness of the hilarious Arab Strap.

Closing the playlist, I know Beck isn’t Scottish, but he feels this Boards Of Canada (who are Scottish) remix of Broken Drum is the best remix he’s ever heard, and I’m inclined to agree with him.

Hope you’re cracking out the Whisky and shortbread after that. Enjoy.

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Girls, Girls, Girls

Morning all. I’m only in the office for Monday and Tuesday this week before I head out to London for a spot of schmoozing with industry-types (read: going to visit Spotisfaction editor James TAE for his birthday, bless’im), so this week will be a bit manic. If any of you fine folks are in London this week, though, let me know on Twitter and we’ll go for a drink or something.

Today’s playlist is by staff-member Simon Mogg and is entitled “Girls, Girls, Girls”. Hope you enjoy as much as I am currently.

Cheers,
Dave

Moggy Says:

I do not like Female Vocallists. I cant really explain why, I think it could be the genral lack of gravellyness (clearly not a word). At least thats what I thought until I started making a list of the songs with female vocals that I do like. Turns out there’s quite a few.

I love this Justice track. Best one on the album in my opinion. In the Bodyrox track I like the way Luciana’s voice kind of cracks at the end of some of the songs lines. When I was VP of my university Rock Music Society we booked Zombina and the Skeletones to support [spunge] at our alternative May Ball. I’ve liked them ever since. Live performance is particularly good. Look forward to seeing them again in November. Yeah Yeah Yeahs = Awesome. Need I say more.

I liked No Doubt as a spotty teenager (partly because of a big crush on Gwen Stefani). Then they went away from their Ska style and I lost interest. Having said that, going back to Tragic Kingdom is always a pleasure. The Shangri-Las were my mothers teenage angst put to music so she used to play them a lot. Thats why they feature here. This song sticks in your mind like you wouldnt believe.

I really like the Noisettes at the moment. Wild Young Hearts has a particularly nice retro feel to it and the track I’ve picked is my favourite. I first heard the Tori Amos track in an episode of The West Wing and thought it was beautifully haunting. Finally, Skin’s vocal in all Skunk Anansie songs has such passion and power that I can’t help but be impressed.

Well, enjoy my selection of girls. Any other recommendations of quality female vocal would be greatly appreciated. Put them in the comments box below.

Ta, MOGGY.

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119 Spotisfaction Friday – 1st October 2010 – Dave Christensen

Happy Friday, kids. Another week, another inbox full of cracking submissions from you lovely people. If you’ve recently started reading/listening to Spotisfaction and you’d like to get involved, send us your playlists, reviews, articles, news and anything else you find interesting. We’re always looking for the odd one-off piece, and we’re also looking for a couple of regular staff members, too. Let us know if you’re interested.

Today’s playlist is by Dave Christensen and is entitled “Accent”. I really enjoyed the blurb today, and I’m finding it quite fun Googling interviews with some of these singers to see just what they sound like in real life. Thanks hugely for the submission!

Take care, folks.
Dave

Dave Says:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7922639/Rock-n-roll-best-sung-in-American-accents.html

I”™m a scientist and I hate it when science is reported badly or when bad science is reported. This article from the Daily Telegraph really irritated me because it was obviously rubbish. The word “science” isn”™t actually used in the article and the researcher doesn”™t claim to be a scientist, but it is written by their science correspondent and is found in the science section on the website. So it is reporting the work as science, which, I feel, is unfairly associating those researchers doing useful things with their time with people like Andy Gibson. If you can”™t be bothered to read the article (and it”™s only short so you should), it”™s suggesting that it”™s more natural to sing pop or rock songs with an American accent and that it”™s actually difficult to sing in your own accent. Of course it is possible to put on accents when singing, like the “Mockney” of Lily Allen or my own imitation of whoever I”™m singing along with, but where the spoken voice of a singer has a similar sound to the singing voice, surely this would suggest a natural accent? Obviously not, so here are a load of fakers with accents as bad as Dick van Dyke”™s.

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117 Spotisfaction Monday – 27th September 2010 – Marc Williams

Morning folks. I trust you all had a lovely weekend? Not an awful lot to report this fine Monday morning, to be honest, other than to remind you that CounterCulture is still ongoing and would still love to see you. Also, although I had a fairly manic weekend, but this EP has really chilled me out today so I thoroughly recommend you check it out.

Today’s playlist is by Marc Williams, and has the distinction of being the first playlist to feature a certain ornithological piece. I’m pretty sure everyone has heard by now, but if not this should make amends.

As always, let us know what you think of today’s playlist in the comments section. We love your feedback, and it helps us shape future content too. Win/win, really.

Finally, if you’d like to make your own Spotify playlist for us, we’d love to feature it. Just send us an email, or sign up for an account on the sidebar to the left and follow the submission guidelines above.

Love, etc.
Dave

Marc Says:

One of the best things about Spotify for me is how easy it is to discover new music. Not only new bands but stuff I wasn’t so familiar with. This playlist is all about this with a few old favourites thrown in for good measure.

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116 Spotisfaction Friday – 24th September 2010 – James Battin

Afternoon, kids. I’ll keep it brief since things are a little busy behind the scenes today. If anyone is out and about this weekend (and why wouldn’t you be, what with CounterCulture‘s launch, Frogfest and Underground Festival?), let us know what you’re up to.

Today’s playlist is by staff-member James Battin (aka Battinski) and is entitled Rhythm and Blues Friday.

Have a lovely weekend,
Dave

James Says:

Hi Guys,

I thought it about time I got in the playlist groove again and what better day than a Friday? Everyone’s on the wind-down anyway, so I know you’ll all listen to this as opposed to doing some work ;)

My picks this playlist are a mix of funk, soul, rhythm and blues. I’ve tried to mix some classics with some more modern interpretations just to keep it fresh and hopefully its not all too dark – I don’t want to bring you down on a Friday, but the core of my musical roots is around the blues genre in its various forms so I’d like to bring some great music to as wide an audience as possible.

All the tunes are great examples of the artists and I hope if you like them you’ll explore some back catalogues, as pretty much every artist below has a very rich back catalogue of great music be it Detroit garage blues, Motown soul or Mississippi Delta blues

Peace , Love and Music
Battinski