Music, July 2015

I've been struggling for the last couple of weeks trying to decide how I want to write about music on my blog. Music is my greatest love in life and I have so much to say about all my favourites that I'm not sure exactly how to begin to cover everything that I want to explore. Last week was easy, the VMA nominations had just come out and there were a whole lot of music videos that I hadn't seen, and some which I already loved, to review and make predictions on. However, award ceremonies don't come around every week and they only cover a small portion of my interests so they can't be the focus of all my music blogging.

On my old Buzznet blog (rachii.buzznet.com) I tried to write about a band, album or sub-genre that I loved every week and I liked that approach but if I carry on solely doing that I'm going to miss out on all the new songs and videos that are coming out. For now, it seems like my best bet is to alternate between the two, covering new music some weeks and old favourites on weeks when there's nothing new to talk about. I've been making a note over the last few weeks of recent releases that I want to review, so this week I'm going to work my way through them and also share my playlist for the last month.

NEW MUSIC

Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon ★★★

I became a big Lana Del Rey fan a couple of years ago and I love everything she does. Recently she's been soundtracking a lot of movies, including The Great Gatsby, Big Eyes and The Age Of Adaline, which makes sense because her music is very cinematic. Honeymoon is a long, slow song showcasing the direction that Lana's 3rd album is likely to head in. She's backed by a beautiful string section and singing lyrics filled with typical Lana imagery. I'm not sure that I love it quite as much as her other work but I felt the same when her previous album, last year's Ultraviolence, was released so it's likely that this song will grow on me. Even if Honeymoon doesn't become a faviourite, I'm still very excited to hear what else Lana's been working on. 

Alice Glass - Stillbirth ★★★★

Alice Glass, up until recently, was the incredible frontwoman of the electro duo Crystal Castles, who I was spellbound by when they arrived on the scene. Stillbirth is the first song she's released as a solo artist, following the first Crystal Castles single (Frail) to be released without her, and I think the decision to split was a great one because now there's two sets of people making innovative music. 

Stillbirth isn't a long song but it's really memorable. It was released with a statement by Glass explaining her struggle leaving an abusive relationship and this experience shows in her lyrics. All proceeds from the single are being donated to survivors of domestic abuse, so this song is definitely worth purchasing.

PVRIS - Fire ★★★★

PVRIS' album, White Noise, has been out for a while so this isn't a new song but the video just came out a couple of weeks ago and the song is on the BBC Radio 1 playlist so I needed to include it. I don't really know how to describe their music, at times the lyrics are aggressive and accusatory but the electronics and the vocal delivery of Lynn Gunn stop the band from being easily classified as a hard rock group. Fire is a great song, like every song on the record, and the video fits in nicely with the band's aesthetic - my guess is that they'll put out videos for every song on White Noise and they'll form a complete story, but until then Fire is a great introduction for anyone who isn't already on board with one of my favourite new bands.

New Found Glory ft. Hayley Williams - Vicious Love ★★★★

Vicious Love is a typical summer pop punk New Found Glory song: catchy, sweet and over in three-and-a-half minutes. It also features Hayley Williams, the fiancée of guitarist Chad Gilbert who's probably best known for fronting Paramore but has also had big summer hits as a featured guest on BoB's Airplanes and Zedd's Stay The Night. The video sees the band playing incompetent tattoo artists who manage to ruin romantic tattoos in a number of funny ways, parodying all those reality shows set in tattoo shops. Vicious Love probably isn't going to become one of those all-time classic pop punk songs but that doesn't mean it isn't good, and I bet the video gets a lot of airplay on the rock music channels for the next while.

Bring Me The Horizon - Throne ★★★

Bring Me The Horizon were a band I loved to hate in high school, and I'm pleased to say that they've improved vastly since then. Throne is a huge atmospheric rock song accompanied by a video filled with the kind of dark imagery you see all over album artwork and Tumblr blogs. I do have one major issue with it that's prohibiting me from giving it any more stars though, and that's the fact that the chorus is lifted almost word-for-word from Wolves, a single released by The Blackout last year - in fact the still images that appear on YouTube for the two videos are similar too... 

Marina & The Diamonds - Blue ★★★★

I haven't enjoyed the most recent incarnation of Marina as much as I liked the aesthetic of her previous album, Electra Heart, so I didn't expect to be a big fan of her new video for Blue but I was pleasantly surprised by it. In the clip Marina is the only girl at the carnival, playing with classic American imagery like her contemporaries Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift but adding a sparkling 70s disco spin on things. Her voice is stunning, the colours are gorgeous and I feel bad for assuming that I wasn't going to love this - it's not as huge a departure from the Electra Heart collection as I had anticipated and it probably won't be long before I'm watching it again.

MY PLAYLIST - JULY 2015

When summer comes around I often find myself listening to a lot of chart pop music and hip-hop. Recently on repeat: Taylor Swift, Kanye West, PVRIS, Nicki Minaj and Die Antwoord. Here's a playlist of the new music I've been listening to, and a few old favourites too: 

July 2015 from Rachii on 8tracks Radio.

1. Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring MØ - Lean On
2. Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon
3. Rihanna & Kanye West featuring Paul McCartney - FourFive Seconds
4. Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money
5. Alice Glass - Stillbirth
6. Sigma featuring Paloma Faith - Changing
7. Kanye West featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney - All Day
8. Years & Years - King
9. Kanye West featuring Lupe Fiasco - Touch The Sky
10. Sia - Elastic Heart
11. Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang
12. Little Mix - Black Magic
13. Omi - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
14. Romeo Santos featuring Nicki Minaj - Animales
15. PVRIS - St Patrick
16. Dr. Dre featuring Jewell, Lady of Rage, Tha Dogg Pound and Snoop Doggy Dogg - Bitches Ain't Shit
17. David Guetta featuring Afrojack and Nicki Minaj - Hey Mama
18. Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood
19. Nicki Minaj featuring Drake - Moment 4 Life