Tune Tape Tuesdays #18

"What's this?," I hear you say, "Tune Tape Tuesdays on a Thursday - has the world gone mad?!" No, it hasn't, keep your pants on. I'm so sorry if, for two days straight, you've been tirelessly refreshing the homepage in the hope of a Tune Tape - you can stop now. After finishing the second chapter of my dissertation on Tuesday, I made a very last-minute decision to make a trip across the Peak District from Manchester to Nottingham. One of my friends is a "DJ" (for more on this, click here), who has managed to work his way out of the dingy basements of student housing and was, that night, supporting Clifford Joseph Price - better known as Goldie, one of the veterans of Drum & Bass and Jungle genres. He was also in Snatch, which in my books is pretty damn awesome. The afterparty went long into the early hours of the morning and, although I remember trying to type up a Tune Tape, I clearly was in no state to do so judging by the draft I've found. Having just about recovered (two trains and a tube ride didn't help proceedings), I was out again last night for my Mum's birthday, which was a slightly more civilised affair at a local Brasserie but ended in the same result (or non-result) of a missing Tune Tape. Hopefully I've grovelled enough and we can put this behind us and talk about the great selection of music I've put together for you all this week...

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but sometimes a certain word or phrase someone says reminds me of the lyrics to a song that I haven't heard in ages. Recently, I was moaning to a friend about how differently I would play certain situations if I could do them again. Y'know, one of those really positive and upbeat conversations(!). His reply was: "You live and you learn." Which, reminded me of one of my forgotten favourites; Live and Learn by the criminally underrated 90's band, The Cardigans. I say underrated, because most people only know one song of theirs - Lovefool (featured on the Romeo + Juliet OST) - and consequently think of them as a 'one hit wonder'. This is far from the truth. Lovefool, in my opinion, is one of their weakest songs. I could name half a dozen of their tracks that I think are far superior, but instead I'm going to post a video of Live and Learn and let you decide for yourselves. If you don't believe me, check out their 'Best Of' album HERE. 

As much as I'd love to do a post on other underrated bands of the last two decades, Tune Tape Tuesdays is all about new music, so I better get on with it. Taking the top spot this week is the wonderful Vance Joy with Riptide (NOT a cover of the Beirut song, in case anyone was wondering). With toe-tapping, swinging guitar riffs and beautiful harmonies and vocals, this song heralds the imminent arrival of Spring and all things nice. If Riptide is the musical equivalent of a lemon soufflé, then Blue Version's edit of Jurassic 5's Thin Line is whisky. Gritty but relaxing. Personally, my favourite part is the break (about 2:50), which I think BV's done a great job with. But hey, it's Jurassic 5. What's not to like. Last week, I urged you to buy Rhye's new album, 'Woman'. If you haven't been bothered/are too poor to do so, I thought I'd feature one of my favourite songs on the album to try to convince you that this guy's a great investment. 3 Days is dreamy and beautiful, with a great synth backbeat and lovely lyrics. It's basically sunshine in a song. For another injection of Indie, check out Sir Sly with Easy Now - with an anthemic chorus, and some great piano and drum accompaniment, it's guaranteed to be stuck in your head for a while. For a sexy remix, have a listen to Thomas TMS's edit of Angie Stone's I Wish I Didn't Miss You, which will infect your body with what I like to call a 'sex sway'. Don't knock it 'til you try it. If you'd prefer to cry into your cornflakes than sway sexily, put on Deptford Goth's delicate track, Union, and let the tears flow. Alternatively you could just listen to it like a normal person and appreciate it's sensitive beauty, but each to their own. Monday's Wish List was an homage to the World's Hottest Woman: Rihanna. She's back again, this time in the Progressive House form of Vario & Strassenmajor's brilliant remix of Stay. Now, I'm not really a great fan of long tracks, but this one is so well crafted and put together that I honestly didn't notice the 10 minutes that went by. Give it a try, it might change your opinion too. Finally, it would be a crime not to mention the brilliant partnership of Benga & Kano who have gotten together to create a filthy Dubstep track: Forefather. Skank! 

As per, the tracks have all been put in a little folder for you to download. Just CLICK HERE. Also, Rapidshare/Mediafire: any preferences? Let me know.





Love,
Belle x