I'm Your Prostitute, You Gon' Get Some

The Kills - Midnight Boom - 2008

The Kills have been one of my favorite bands for months now (this post is very much overdue), and Midnight Boom is the record that I've been listening to pretty much nonstop since the New Year. Why am I so completely and obviously obsessed with VV and Hotel at this point in time? Well, let me see...

Never mind that their next record, Blood Pressures, is out TODAY...

Never mind that Alison Mosshart is a member of The Dead Weather and bffs with Jack White...

Never mind that Jamie Hince is marrying HRH Kate (that would be Moss, by the way, not Middleton)...

Never mind that they account for 2/3 of Polaroid and photobooth net incomes...

Never mind that they are effortlessly bad-ass and laidback at the same time...

You can take your pick, really. But when it comes down to it, I appreciate the musical/performance side of what they're all about. Well, that, and it was hilarious when Mosshart wore the same leopard print blouse to every show for like a year. You know what, though? Being rough around the edges never hurt anyone; in fact,  the Kills are the perfect arty garage rock/post punk revival bands because they have the street cred and antics to go along with their beat-driven music. And that leopard print blouse was comfortable, dammit.

*And don't forget to tack on the missing track "Night Train" if you aren't downloading from the UK. The whole record is like going on a bender, with the final track "Goodnight Bad Morning" representing your hangover. But with "Night Train" added on the end, you'll be ready to head back out on the town that night. Or at least drive off into the sun in a blaze of glory... Yeah, stay in school, kids.

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PJ Harvey - Let England Shake - 2011

I was reading reviews for PJ Harvey's newest record a week or so after it was released (I like to do this on occasion, to make sure that the critics aren't critically inept), and was most taken by the review by NME's Mike Williams. He proclaimed: "Francis Ford Coppola can lay claim to the war movie. Ernest Hemingway the war novel. Polly Jean Harvey, a 41-year-old from Dorset, has claimed the war album." NME gave the record a ten star rating (out of ten), and also awarded it the title "[PJ Harvey's] most brilliant record to date". As I was completely in awe of it myself, and I can't quite think of any better way of describing it, to be honest. So I'll just leave it at that. 

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Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes - 2011

I love to play up my not so Swedish side on this blog, but there are times when you need to show a bit of Swedish blood love/lust. In no case is this more evident than that of Lykke Li's new record, Wounded Rhymes. My brother is not a fan, but aside for an occasional affinity for ABBA, he's got limited and questionable taste in music. Wounded Rhymes is well in the running for best record of 2011 in my opinion. Asked what type of music it is by a friend, I replied hesitantly with "tribal alternative indie electro-rock". And I can't really think of a better way to describe it. The drums are an enormous part of the album, pounding like an ominous heartbeat through each track; it's an impeccable example of how beat driven a lot of music out of Scandinavia is right now. You get Irish tin whistles here and there too, adding a wistful tinge to songs like "Love Out of Lust". Oh, you get all the regular bits like guitar, bass and synths too, by the way. In case you were starting to think this was going to sound like what the White Stripes (RIP) would have if they were around when Beowulf was written (having said that, some sections do sound like they might be very comfortable there).

Beyond being brilliant in the instrumental landscapes it paints, this record is also incredible lyrically. You get the sense that each song is simply a rendering of a poem from some anonymous poet, never intending the words on the page to be seen by any eyes other their own, and thus felt free to be unrestrainedly honest. You appreciate that freedom listening, because it allows for the expression of feelings that are much stronger and more heartfelt than a lot of what you get from other artists these days. I stress that 'artist,' by the way. With Wounded Rhymes, Lykke Li and producer Björn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn and John) have created a record that is not only great music, but also art. And no, those don't always go hand in hand.

*Also, Lykke would like everyone to know that "Get Some" is about power. Not sex. Yes, I'm aware that "I'm your prostitute, you gon' get some" doesn't exactly deter from this common misconception.

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It is now going on 2:30, and I have an essay that wants finishing (That Beowulf reference was a bit of a hint as to where my mind's at right now... here's to Tolkien, Galadriel, and "the backward view"!). Part 2 of La Vrai Trésor de Christian Dior soon to come, as well as a feature on a certain Alice in Wondøland...

Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford