Songs Remind Me of You

A music blog that sometimes centers on emotional connections to places I've been and people I've known; other times it's just about the song's impact. Written by a NYC ex-pat living in Zürich. Let me thank Annie Strand for both the title and its accompanying song. As a forewarning, I am in love and will probably use the word a lot. (I take no credit for any photos unless specified.) Contact me with suggestions!

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I wasn't going to write about this, however... I am completely obsessed with Lady Gaga's "Do What U Want" featuring R. Kelly. It's a mix of standard 80s synth pop and mainstream R&B, but truly becomes a banger thanks to the chorus and pulsating, swampy beat. I mean, I've already listened to it like 150 times since it was released. (Literally, according to my iTunes.) Originally planned as the first of three promotional singles, it has now become the second official single from Artpop thanks to success on the iTunes chart. Listen below as if you haven't already.

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New song from Say Lou Lou, who may test our patience for a debut album but who always remind us they're worth the wait. With handclaps throughout and a soaring, lush chorus, "Better in the Dark" appears more optimistic than previous fare. But then its lyrics suggest the uplifting music is actually a front, describing a relationship that exists only once the sun sets and is just a warm thought during the day. Lights flash before my eyes and the curtains open. I know the sound, that familiar line, when the spell is broken.

Anyone who has convinced themselves they were dating someone, who you only saw in the wee hours of the night, can relate. I had one of these who I honestly believed would go somewhere, we had even acquired "The Midnight Club" nickname. The pattern became regular - so regular that it became one of those situations where you know it's bad for you but you can't stop relying on the person and how they initially made you feel, and hope they wake up to your ideals. When you finally realise what's happening it takes a lot to leave them there naked, behind, to dream about them once in awhile instead of dreaming with them. I was a fool for him.

So, good job to Say Lou Lou for dredging up such intense feelings from years ago. "Better in the Dark" is out on 25th November via Columbia/à Deux records. I will hope to get my vinyl preorder in soon.

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Asta is a singer-songwriter from Tasmania, Australia. Influenced by Annie Lennox, I also hear a bit of Natalie Merchant in her voice, while her music is less 10,000 Maniacs and more, well, Annie Lennox soul, electropop done the Swedish way, and R&B. A true compliment for a great new artist. "I Need Answers" came out seven months ago, but I'm just getting around to hearing it. I will be shocked if she doesn't gain more exposure outside of her home country in the distant future.

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Video for "Nightswim" by Melbourne-based musician, Brooke Addamo, aka Owl Eyes. Previously a finalist on Australian Idol, Addamo seems to have left those mainstream beginnings behind to finally give us a song that equals her voice in value. "Nightswim" is intimate, Architecture and Morality-like pop that wouldn't sound out of place on Italians Do It Better with a longer cut. 

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Canada's Absolutely Free create music to get lost in, exemplified by their upcoming 12" "On The Beach" - a seven-minute polyrhythmic hypnosis that experiments with different movements and moods in a cohesive manner. Consider me a fan of listening to this late at night with eyes closed, pensive. 

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Following the quite good True Romance that dropped earlier this year, Charli XCX is back with the super-poppy, groovin' single "SuperLove" that also serves as an announcement for a new album. Girl is on fire, moving right along. The video is a Tokyo-fueled escapade that I hope mirrors my own experience if and when I visit for my birthday in January. 

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Official audio for "You Don't Get Me Twice" from Sleigh Bells' upcoming third album, Bitter Rivals. Still one of the harshest bands around. Can't wait to hear the rest on 8th October. 

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Autumn playlist for your listening pleasure, via Spotfiy. Click here or listen below.  

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Inez & Vinoodh kill it with the official video for "Applause" by Lady Gaga. Absolutely spectacular styling, cinematography, and direction. And it is the actual song's length, which is quite welcome from her. Watch it in HD below. So much replay value.

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But I am equally excited about Archy Marshall's, aka King Krule, debut album, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, to be released on 24th August in commemoration of his 19th birthday. So, don't hate on my Gaga love just yet. "Out Getting Ribs," sung under his first moniker Zoo Kid, was such a great introduction to his voice. Watch the video for latest single "Easy Easy" below. 

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I've basically been traveling this whole month - first visitors since my move to Switzerland! - but I leave you with the lyric video for Lady Gaga's "Applause" because, well, I still look forward to ARTPOP despite its name and the single being okay. I realize I am a Little Monster at heart, if not in crazy obsessive spirit. (You can find me on Youtube riding a motorcycle while pulling a friend's curly hair at the Born This Way release party in NYC. I was very drunk on Bellvedere vodka, don't judge.)

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I hadn't thought about Delorean in awhile, but coincidentally enough, they released a song from their new album yesterday, the same day my father was perusing my record collection and asking me which ones I wanted him to bring on his visit, eventually coming to the band's Subiza and effectively reminding me how much I enjoyed it (and them). 

Listen to "Destitute Time" from Apar, due out 9th September, below. Ekhi Lopetegi's vocals are more in the forefront, like in "Big Dipper" from the Ayrton Senna EP, and the production sounds richer than before, but it still retains the open air, warm feeling of bobbing out on the sea in search of discovery and a dream. Maybe just with a little less enthusiasm of the adventure and a slight shift into surf pop made by jaded wanderlusts.

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It's Annie with a video for "Back Together" and is wonderfully 90's, like all of the music on her new A&R EP. Not much to say since I have expressed my love for all of her music and stylings ad nauseam.

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Sydney-based The Preatures are certain to reel in any Fleetwood Mac lovers out there (like myself). Classic rock from way out west, with Motown girl-boy vocals that are infectious and seductive instead of cloyingly sweet like usual. Front-woman Isabella Manfredi, pictured above, and guitar/vocalist Gideon Bensen lend a real sex appeal and allure to the band that is, in my opinion, honestly missing in most independent artists these days. One can hope they continue on and upwards with the release of their forthcoming EP on 9th August, but until then, we have this energetic track that is begging you to dance along and rock out. 

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Short, summery Swedish pop with big vocals from Marlene in "Bon Voyage." The name, and the way her voice flutters into high register in the chorus, recall the classic "Voyage Voyage" from Desireless, maybe a little Imogen Heap. But nothing else about this song is French 80's or Garden State soundtrack whatsoever. Clean, rhythmic, bassy. 

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For all of the flack I have given Lana Del Rey, and sometimes still do (see: wannabee Hope Sandoval name-calling), her debut album and the subsequent extended Paradise edition have soundtracked so many memories, have turned friends into fans, and I have listened to them so many times I cannot even count anymore. Girl does melodramatic, hopelessly romantic pop so well, it's an art at this point. Six - maybe, even seven! - new tracks have emerged and, hrm, they are so LDR in sound, I am excitedly content to have more material from her and, yet, somewhat disappointed at (mostly) their lack of immediate impact. And every time I hear her, now that I've realized it, I think of Bette Midler singing "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today" in Beaches. Below, you can listen to "Black Beauty" and "Starry Eyed," the best of the bunch, in my opinion.

Hear the rest at Pretty Much Amazing.

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This new No Age song is up there among their best. Low-key, brief, and beautiful.