Obsessed with video games, American culture and Buffy. Can usually be found at his laptop working.
- Game Review: Crash Bandicoot 4 – It’s About Time - 12 October, 2020
- Opinion: Hogwarts Legacy – to buy or not to buy? - 28 September, 2020
- Mobile Game: Crash Bandicoot On The Run - 11 July, 2020
When Reggie asked me to submit my playlist, I was scared. Basically my taste in music floats towards general ‘mainstream’ with random bursts of individuality usually inspired by good experiences, recommendations or encounters in TV and Film. This is just a small sample of my playlist, but if you want to download some of these, go for it.
1. Summertime Sadness [Lana Del Rey vs. Cedric Gervais Remix]
I hate Lana Del Rey. Honestly, I do. And frankly if you want to call me whatever for it I really couldn’t give a monkey’s left one, but what I do love is an artist who can make me turn that feeling round to incredible love for music. Cedric Gervais did that a couple of years back with his version of Lana’s ‘Summertime Sadness’, and frankly it has been on my top playlist ever since.
This is a remix that takes an otherwise depressing song, jacks up the tempo and gives it electro and bass, with an output that everyone recognises as brilliant – Lana Del Hater comme moi or not. This is the kind of song I would imagine going through Alice’s head just before she started kicking serious T-Virus infected arse, especially since the lyrics go SO well with her attitude (I’ve got my red dress on tonight/dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight/done my hair up real big beauty queen style/high heels off/I’m feeling alive). I love the song so much that I sing it at karaoke.
2. Seven Wonders by Stevie Nicks
Anyone want to take a stab at why this is stuck in my head?
Alright, so I am well aware of the fact that this was originally done by Fleetwood Mac, but I am talking about the rereleased version that Stevie Nicks had out after American Horror Story: Coven. Those familiar with the show will already know, but in order for the new head of the witch coven to be crowned she needed to perform seven feats of magic called the ‘Seven Wonders’. Of course, Stevie Nicks, playing The White Witch in the show, looks in and wishes them all good luck before they set off and undertake the task.
This is one of those songs that makes you think about potential, the future, and beauty as a whole concept. Big thinking stuff, but it got under my skin. Again, I will usually slag off Fleetwood Mac to the hilt (most incestuous band of all time ever), but I love the show and the way it made me rethink this and a couple of other Stevie Nicks songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nJWpFKCps
3. Can’t Remember to Forget You by Shakira feat. Rihanna
Me and a close mate (*throws something at the Editor-in-Chief’s head*) went on holiday to Gran Canaria before Pride this year to avoid a) the heat, b) the crush, and c) the excessive cost. One thing you learn after your first trip to a Spanish speaking country is that they grab hold of Latin artists like nobody’s business, and when I went to Madrid as a child, it was Shakira’s ‘Whenever, Wherever’. So, of course, it is her latest track this time around. It was so overplayed (in the course of approximately 4hrs, it was played about half a dozen times) that I turned my general disgust into like, and again, it got under my skin.
Everyone recognises the feeling of sleeping with someone so good that the memory is good enough to let you forget how much of a twat they are just to let ’em have round two (or five) in your bed, and the way that Shakira and Rihanna bond over that feeling is intense, almost lesbionic. It’s fun, it’s loud and it’s heavy on the bass, with extra emphasis on vocals. Mucho gusto.
4. Point of Disgust by Low
After my mum died last year I started to recognise songs that made me stop and think, and recently the one that has come up is ‘Point of Disgust’ by Low. You may recognise it from Skins during the episode in the second series where Effy and Tony have to look after the house because their mum is so exhausted after looking after Tony that she goes into shutdown drink/drug mode for a vacation from reality. I re-watched it recently, and I remembered how gorgeous this song is.
Low is not a huge ban but has had minor points of success, of which, this is one. ‘Point of Disgust’ is a song of loss and peace, but it is breathtakingly beautiful due to the broken down nature of its composition – dual vocal, simple chord piano, and some sort of bass stringed instrument (I think cello, but someone better check that – it comes in during the second chorus). Heart-wrenching and haunting vocals play off seriously depressing lyrics and produce this beautiful discord. Love it.
5. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) by Q-Tip
I hate Great Gatsby and never saw the film, so don’t try and pin me watching it (for once), but I do love Fergie’s vocals since she went mor solo, and I bloody love this video. It rings personally because a friend and I were discussing what songs we would do live on stage as drag queens after too much wine and a Netflix binge, and I realised I would love to do this but using incarnations of Yuna from Final Fantasy. It suits the song perfectl because of her wedding to Seymour (cancelled) and her love of Tidus that can bring him back at the end of X-2 (if you play your cards right).
Big band plus good (debatable, but I like it so shush) vocals, squared by excuse to go out drinking lyrics, equals two thumbs up from me. It physically makes you want to dance as well, which is brilliant for a song to achieve.
Not quite making this top list are Alice Walker’s take on Jack in Water’s My Favourite Story, Let’s Have a Kiki by Scissor Sisters, Paloma Faiths Can’t Rely On Youip and Matcutchi’s TaterZ DeeP Edit of RuPaul’s Cover Girl. All are fab songs that narrowly got on here, but were pipped mostly for me completely forgetting to download the songs. Except Alice – she hasn’t released hers as a single (to my knowledge). If Reggie lets me have another go at this, maybe I will tell you some stories from them. 😉
