4 posts tagged “amy winehouse”

I love discovering new music - by this, I don't mean standing in dark, smoky clubs watching bands consisting of four spotty teenagers, playing loud jangly guitar music. That's never been my thing.

I mean, the thrill of buying a new album, off the back of having heard just one track from an artist, or sometimes by virtue of a review you've read, or recommendation from a friend, and then discovering you love it.

I remember the first time I heard Nick Drake, when someone played me River Man - long before the current cool revival, some 10 years ago. The wistful, lazy guitar sent shivers down my spine and I had to find out more about this singer. I'm not going to deny Nick his posthumous glory, but I almost wish so many people hadn't discovered him.

Equally, I remember being sent a review copy of Amy Winehouse's Frank album, back in 2003. I raved about it to a few friends at the time, citing the singer's distinct vocal style. Admittedly, although Frank didn't sell particularly well, it's hard to open a newspaper without seeing her beehive hairdo and facial moles. Again, I'm glad she's done well, because she's very talented, but again...

My current new favourite is Keren-Ann. I first read about her a year or so ago in Word magazine, where David Hepworth was waxing lyrical about her. I kept meaning to buy her album Nolita, but failed to get round to it. Last month, I heard a track from the same album again and finally bought it. Wow! She's great. Somehow, I doubt she will achieve quite the same success as the aforementioned Drake and Winehouse, which will be a shame for her, but all the better for me, because I know I will be one of the few (thousand, admittedly), who enjoy her music.

Equally, there's this guy called Jamie Lidell, whose album Multiply came out last year. Didn't do a lot in this country, but I thought it was great. I've heard nothing from him again and can only assume he's working on that difficult second album. Hopefully it will be just as good as the first, but not quite good enough to send him stratospheric - that way I can be sure that not everyone's granny, budgie and maiden aunt has a copy. And that pleases me in a wanky, muso kind of way...!

If you put together a time capsule today, what would you put in it?
Submitted by Lilia.

Oh, this is one of those questions that I should probably think about really hard, but in reality, I'd want to put things in that reminded me of life in 2007 and that are highly likely to vanish in, say, 30 years.

Soooooo......

- A copy of Grazia or Heat
- A music CD, like Amy Winehouse or Jarvis Cocker
- A daily newspaper
- A pic of me, Ceri, Ava and Beth today (I'm not suggesting we'll vanish in 30 years)

I'm sure there are lots more things, but nothing else springs to mind at the moment...

OK, it's that old chestnut of subjectivity. What have been my favourite albums of the year? Initially, I thought I'd try to limit it to three, but sadly, I can't manage to do that.

Here are my favourites of 2006, in no particular order:
- Amy Winehouse - Back To Black: probably my favourite - a truly awesome album
- Joanna Newsom - Ys: weird, yes, but also utterly addictive listening

- Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis: the man is back in town and on form

- Lily Allen - Alright Still: cheeky, chirpy and full of cracking tracks.

- Scott Matthews - Passing Stranger: most underrated artist around and could be set for the big time
- Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope: just a lovely album to listen to
- TV On The Radio -Return To Cookie Mountain: rock on

Single of the Year is without doubt
- Crazy by Gnarls Barkley and their album St Elsewhere was pretty cool too.

Biggest disappointments of 2006?
- Sam's Town by The Killers: it just didn't do it for me
- Nux Vomica by The Veils: loved their debut album, but this kinda failed to excite
- Ticket To Immortality by The Dears: another uninspiring follow-up to a cracking first album

Agree? Disagree? Let me know...

Ah, it's one of those actually quite nice Sunday mornings. We ate a scrummy Shepherd's Pie last night, rounded off with an Apple & Plum Crumble, both made by my own fair hand. I guess I must be feeling better if I can make and consume food like that!

This morning poor Ava has got a stinker of a cold. Streaming nose and really congested - poor thing. Just not fair!

I've been listening to the quite wonderful new Amy Winehouse album - just fantastic. Rehab, the first single is great, but my favourite is the title track Back To Black. Whatever you've seen in the press about her, forget it. She makes superb music...