Category: music

FIIL

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OK, reading back that title sounds like some sort of terrorist organisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s: Friday I’m In Love.

The kids both woke up in great moods this morning. Like every family, school mornings aren’t necessarily always the happiest or most relaxed times. Usually, there are no problems, but today was even better than that: everyone was happily bouncing around the house. Even the beagle was smiling.

There’s The Cure for that, and they joined us at breakfast via Youtube:

A little bastard mole even took advantage of this happy atmosphere to fall into the swimming pool and was duly relocated to somewhere a long way down the road, rather than being relocated to join the choir invisible.
I’m going all sentimental in my happiness, it seems.

So yes, enjoy your Friday, even if Saturday wait, and Sunday always comes too late.
You don’t even want to hear about the darkness forecast on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday are apparently going to be busy at the local cardiology department. So enjoy it while you can.

It’s All The Same

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Except that it actually isn’t. Because this here single marks an entirely new direction for Zebra & Giraffe, and it’s actually rather nice.

The new EP Slow Motion is semi-available now.

Many familiar places in this endearing, yet ultimately rather sad, railway-based video.
And some important lessons, too. Never open the book. The book is full of bad secrets you don’t want or need to know. You will only end up disappointed. And back drinking cheap red wine in a soulless bar in Beaufort West.

We’ve all been there.
(Through the heartbreak and upset of broken promises and lost love, I mean, not Beaufort West.)

Edit: Oh, apparently it was some soulless bar in Matjiesfontein. My bad. Still: It’s All The Same.

EDIT 2: (Sept 2025) I just found this post. In the intervening period, I’ve been to the soulless bar in Matjiesfontein. It was actually rather raucous and a lot of fun. Sorry.

I Love You

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I really do. But quite aside from that, here’s the hauntingly beautiful Quintet Version (2 violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass) (and a piano, but apparently we’re not counting that) of Woodkid’s track I Love You, which you may recognise from this ad.

Wow. Just wow.

Woodkid’s album, The Golden Age is next on my shopping list. I’ve had a wander through his youtube channel and there’s some remarkable stuff there. Most of his songs seem to be around 4 minutes long. However, this colab with Max Richter is more than double that. No surprises there, though.

The best Hello

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Oh. Hello.

I touched upon Adele’s Hello earlier in the week, and while playing the original version for my daughter on Simfy, something went horribly wrong and I now have Adele as my cellphone screen backdrop, with a constant popup, constantly popped up on there, imploring me to play it again.

Sam.

Aside from Adele, many other artists have done songs called Hello: Lionel “Richtea” Ritchie in 1984, Shakespear’s Sister in 1992, Evanescence in 2003, Martin Solveig in 2011 – ably covered by Laura Vane and the Vipertones here – and, of course, Elegance Osamu Fukuyama with her… his… their… whatever… its hit – which was Big In Japan, reaching number 1 there for a whole week in February 1995.

My favourite though? The best Hello?
The INXS, Jesus Jones, EMF-esque tone of The Beloved, from back in 1990:

Where else could you hear names as diverse as Desmond Tutu and Vince Hilaire, The London Symphony Orchestra and Charlie Brown mentioned in a single 4 minute song?

Probably best known for Sweet Harmony (and that video), a number 8 in the UK in 1993, and 1989/90’s The Sun Rising – The Beloved was the male version of St Etienne, had an equally unjustified lack of success, but left us with some wonderful archetypal early 90’s UK Indie memories.

Hello

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Everyone’s been going barmy over the new Adele song Hello. Not least my daughter who wants to sing all the things that Adele sings. As songs go (musically, at least), it’s quite nice. Not really my taste, but I can respect the writing, the production and the talent she has. The great news is that Dubai-based producer ConsoulTrainin has given us a soulful, deep-housey remix and it’s properly good:

                         Oh noes. this video has been removed.

There’s some other interesting stuff on his soundcloud page too, including a Julyan Dubson Remix of Kygo’s Firestone and – if you’re less into pan-pipes – his own cover of Baby D’s 1996 hit Let Me Be Your Fantasy.