BNC – Quickies 4

OK time for another random round up of stuff that caught my ear, starting with…

HAIM – GASOLINE
They play music at my workplace. Some of it good, some bad. Its a rotating selection of songs which are played on a loop at the exact same time every single day. One song really stood out but due to a number of reasons such as a noisy work environment and bad hearing, I could never quite catch any of the lyrics. Until a couple of days ago when I caught a short phrase and googled the fuck out of it. It was ‘Gasoline’. I really like it. I listened to the Taylor Swift version (must be better, right?) and the original and I much prefer the original version. I think Taylor is a great singer but her vocals were a bit bland, there was a lot more emotion from the Haim girls. Its a great song.
Spotify link –

COURTNEY BARNETT – CHARITY
One of Courtneys newer songs came up randomly on YouTube and it was alright so I checked out some of her other stuff and came across her album ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’. A couple of songs stood out instantly and after going back after a few days I bought the album because I liked it so much. Here is ‘Charity’. I love the whole thing. I really like the way her accent (She’s Australian Mate) comes through in the vocals and really compliment the music.
Spotify Link –

HAZEL ENGLISH – OFF MY MIND / FIVE AND DIME
Alright I’m gonna start by saying it was really hard to choose which song to include here. I caught Hazels latest track ‘Nine Stories’ on YouTube and loved it. And then I listened to her album ‘Wake UP!’ and I was actually fucking blown away. Some of her stuff is just plain cool. A song might be technically excellent, a singer note perfect etc but its not very often it all comes together and you just sit there listening and thinking, ‘This sounds cool as fuck.’ So obviously this is just my personal opinion and some of you will probably listen to this and be like, ‘What the fuck is this guy even on?’ but I’m telling you this is the real shit. Her music is very 60’s tinged dream pop. You may have heard ‘Five and Dime’ which was pretty popular. Hazel is also Australian but moved to the USA and has one of the weirdest accents I have ever heard.
Spotify links –

MOLLY NILSSON – HEY MOON!
Another random find. I haven’t had a chance to check out any more of her stuff yet but I really liked this track from Mollys album ‘These Things Take Time’. Its a really simple pretty little song.
Spotify Link –

KELLY CLARKSON – UNDERNEATH THE TREE
As its nearly that time of year, this is my favourite Christmas song.
Why? You probably almost certainly aren’t asking. Well I’ll tell you anyway.
For a start she is an amazing singer and one of those artists who can actually sing as well live as she does in a studio. That is actually quite rare. The music is also great, its very big band traditional but dragged up to date and together it sounds pretty magical.
I will also give a special mention to that entirely unexpected Christmas hit by East 17 ‘Stay Another Day’ which is still and always will be a fucking banger. Peace.
Spotify link –