The Music

So many songs, don’t know where to start…….

DISCLAIMER – my music reviews are not of a professional nature, more like “I love this album, it’s really good!” So don’t expect too much 🙂

The only downside to listening to music while sewing is resisting the temptation to tap your foot – makes for very jerky machining and wobbly seams (that’s my excuse for wobbly seams)!!

Here are some of my favorite bands and songs, in no particular order;

Upbeat – good for sewing bright, happy clothes!

Love LITTLE MAN TATE – unfortunately they’ve disbanded. My kids say me liking a band is the kiss of death. Seems just as I discover, and become obsessed with a band, I read up on them and find out they broke up a couple years before 😦

When you are full of enthusiasm for an upcycling project – really eager to transform something old and boring into a bright, quirky, original design, you can’t go wrong with MATT and KIM’S Daylight!! Watch the video first to make you smile.

Another happy song……Part Time Job Shirt and Tie by KID BRITISH. Haven’t been able to find it to buy, so have to play it on YouTube. Upbeat songs can be a problem when I start bobbing my head around too much and measure things wrong! Oh, well!

http://youtu.be/ue07mbo23Zw

Another good one…MADCON’S Beggin’ – stay with it through the dramatic opening. (After watching the video, you can’t help feeling you should be sewing something pretty kitsch that involves fake fur).

To break the tedium of long seams – bedding, slipcovers, cloaks for 6′ tall people (yes, recently, I had a request for Lord of the Rings cloaks!), you can never go wrong with a bit of MADNESS, ENGLISH BEAT, or THE SPECIALS!

So, for the Mixing It Up! project, I needed something a little quirky (for the black and white spots), but with some variety, because I didn’t know how the sweater was going to end up…..

……time for BLOC PARTY (Silent Alarm 2005). It was just what I needed, bursts of energy, some good melody, and a bit unexpected. Every time I listen to it, I wonder why I haven’t bought any of their other albums – will have to look into that.

Brightly colored summer fabric, and anything with stripes or polka dots pair nicely (guess who went wine tasting recently?) with Imperial Leisure’s Great British Summertime and Man on the Street!

Am really on a roll with altering Goodwill purchases right now. The musical accompaniment for My Waist = Her Hips (oh, well, whatever!) was The Courteeners – St. Jude. Just love his voice! I play the track Bide Your Time way too much (was my ring tone for a while, too).BLINK 182 – always a favorite! Love the older stuff, and was so happy that Neighborhoods is great, too!

If you’ve never watched the video for “Always”, check it out on YouTube….great song, and fun video!

This album inspired my black and white “Umpire Strikes Back” shirt – The Wombats, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation –  I particularly love the tracks Let’s Dance to Joy Division and Moving to New York!

Winterhead by New Cassettes – strong beats a bit like Queens of the Stone Age (watch that toe tapping on the foot), but great haunting harmonies which I try to sing along to…lucky for the rest of the family that the sewing machine makes a fair bit of noise!

Just choose any Frank Turner song, you can’t go wrong. I’ve been lucky enough to meet him a couple of times at record store events (a quick hug and a photo) – he’s really nice, and has so much time for his fans. I can play Positive Songs for Negative People over and over again!!

For Snip it, Rip it, I needed something quirky and lively – some Russian, gypsy punk, perhaps. So I looked no further than Gogol Bordello Pure Vida Conspiracy. My favourite track is My Gypsy Auto Pilot – love the video!

The perfect Track 1 on an album to get the refashion kick-started – “Wanted” on The Devil The Heart & The Fight by Skinny Lister!

Loved this album – The Fratelli’s Costello Music. It was a totally original sound, and when I first got it, I played it over and over in the car! Also saw them in concert…so good!

Just discovered Will Varley. I bought Postcard from Ursa Minor which gets better and better each time I play it. Also saw him live last week!!

Get Album, Play Album, Sing……………..that’s what happened when I finally got around to buying Searching for the Hows and Whys by Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly (now you get the pun, right……right?).

Next up, Well, Well, Well by Milburn. Love this album. Think I found them on Lastfm originally.

Eight Legs – love this album, makes me think I’m twenty for a while (damn those mirrors, and that aching body).For my TT T-shirt…Motorcycle by The Rumblestrips, and Alarm Clock if you don’t want to get up in the morning!! Girls and Weather is full of quirky, singalong numbers.

For Flying By the Seat of Someone Else’s Pants, I needed something a little mellow to stop me stressing, so it was Jason Isbell’s The Nashville Sound. I bought this recently, and saw him in concert in September. Definitely growing on me.