Experience EVERYTHING

I know this seems like a terrible thing to admit to but, well, sometimes things just pass me by. There are so many artists that I have never gotten round to listening to: its nothing personal, I just don’t have the time. As a creative person, I want to experience just about everything, so the lack of time seriously upsets me. I took this week off work; between going for long walks in the blazing sun, playing guitar and being arts and crafty, I’ve caught up on my listening a bit.

Joanna Newsom’s music has been around for a while: she couples lyrical sophistication with effortless technical ability in her intricate, avant-garde offerings; listening to her kooky, vivid renditions is like tumbling into a melodious Wonderland. Newsom creates a fantastical, panoramic soundscape of fluttering, harp-based, folky magic and her textured music generates an inimitable link between this world and somewhere dreamlike and hauntingly transient.



Holly Miranda’s voice is as arresting, as it is mesmerising; sonorously capturing the spirit of beauty and emotion. Her piercing vocals cut through hazy, plinking folk to create warm, dreamy refrains. Her tender musings are comforting; they project a layer of slow burning, simplistic innocence and ascendant fragility.



Mazzy Star, Cat Power and Blonde Redhead all spring to mind when talking about WarPaint. Fascinating and affecting; their gentle, encompassing sounds are exquisitely beguiling. This eclectic LA four piece creates ambient spectrums of musical reverie through guitar ripples and intermittent vocal exaltation. They are hotly tipped for 2010, so ones to watch out for.



Zola Jesus’ laments are particularly captivating; comparable to Joy Division in intent, her songs ring out with creeping desolation and an overwhelming sense of melancholy. Dark vocals, deep beats and floaty distortion project tragic, powerful despondency. These malevolently playful textures combined with sonic dynamism bring about an obscure sense of despair that haunts her musings and serves as a triumphant expression of the depths of human frailty.