Duke Dumont

After a slanderous, yet joking (yet still suprisingly accurate) attack on my never-flinching fella, he as a response made me quite a fantastic mix.

To shut me up. Obviously.

And instead I'm here, to rave about this track.

Duke Dumont - Feltham (The Borstal Beat) [via YouSendIt for 7 days]

Ripped from the context of the mix I feel it loses something. But it means, excitingly, that it is brilliantly constructed to pulse and push through a mix, and I guarantee will be the stand out moment.

Usual malark. Love the man Dumont, the indisputable Duke. Go here, in praise and worship.

Polytechnic

Has time sped up? It is starting to scare me.

Enjoy Polytechnic.

Polytechnic - Pep

Anyone got bundles of cash they are trying to get rid of? Blood money? Proceeds of crime? State pension? Anything at all? Let me know.

Looking up..

Hark! There appears to be swathes of social immobility. Didn't you know? I just saw it on the news. And here I sat thinking my crushing despair and subsequent shattering of confidence was down to a change in the weather/Michael Jackson's death/body image issues. Oh no. It turns out that it really is all societal. I suppose that might ease my feelings inadequacy and guilt. Apart from the fact that it doesn't.

Ambition and a desire to progress do appear to be costing a great deal. Strain and stress. Punctured sleep and meals viewed in reverse. The mantra "Desperate times call for desperate measures.." no longer holding resonance.

I understand the competition. I truly do. But when I've nothing to offer than desire and a pledge that I will push myself beyond what I know my contemporaries will do its hard to know why it isn't enough.

Choking back tears during phonecalls that always spiral back to the well-trodden subject of money. "You know if I could help that I would love nothing more than to say 'Don't worry about it, Steph. Here is the money it is taken care of.' But you know I can't. I'm sorry." It tears the hearts of those around me apart. And only those closest know how deep it goes. The lengths gone to. The opportunities plundered and drawn up ultimately dry.

And all I can say is...

I'll be fucked if I'm going to give up!

Expensive academia and a glass ceiling will not deter me so easily. Wear me down, maybe. But it has it match met with me!

I may not have much, but it just means I've got less to lose.

David Bowie - Life On Mars [via YouSendIt for 7 days]

Burial

It continues..

Burial - Archangel

Four Tet

Let us start..

Four Tet - Smile Around The Face

Esser

We tried to get out to see Esser recently. But due to lying taxi providers we missed his set. At the time I wasn't massively disappointed being somewhat loosened by the alcoholic content of my bloodstream. And my man and I threw some shapes and giggled drunkly together until the wee hours.

But when I awakened the following day in the cold -- much more sober -- light of day, I was gutted when I realised I'd missed Esser.

But hopefully I'll get the chance to see him again at Newcastle's Evolution Festival at the end of May. And I think his hip electro-pop tunes will go down a treat. I'm excited.

I have particular cringe-affection for this video.

Esser - Headlock (Spike Stent Mix) from stars redmond on Vimeo.

Lily Allen

I am a fan. I've always liked Lily. I was lucky enough to see her at V Festival on the cusp of her rapid rise to riotous fame. I love her feisty, unassailable, need to comment on it all. Good, bad, ugly. Usually the bad and the ugly. She inspires me to stay the same. Not feel the need to back down. Because a girl who'll say it all to the world can take the world by storm.

So, I need to air it. I do not like Lily's new single. I am fairly distressed to say, I can't stand it. I don't get it. The concept. It all sits awkwardly. No one should have had a hand in ruining this. I want Lily in one of two ways; ferociously spouting her opinions, or looking ferociously at me as in that picture above.

Country? Why? It reminds me of the two minute interviews done for chart shows aimed at teenagers with limited attention spans done with the latest blonde air-headed female solo artist.

"Well, I love all types of music, you know? I love it all. And so my new album has a bit of everything. Its got a bit of all genres. So there is a poppy song, a dancey song -- I think my fans will love that -- a rocky song, a couple of down-tempo love songs -- that are really close to my heart, one if about my Mom -- and a country song."

I don't get it. Is there still a need for this in pop music today? I don't have anything against a lot of chart pop music. I pretty much admit to having a very strong liking for it. But should there really be room for this now? I assumed we were beyond that. And after her fantastic last single The Fear, it hardly feels like we are building on it.



It upsets me.

Do you like the picture, by the way?