The Bitch (Lauren) Is Back!

So I have only posted once and feel the need to share my new music love with the world...so here it goes.

I have recently become obsessed with Kim Carnes' "Betty Davis Eyes" and I feel the need to share this obsession with the world. Also I am currently depressed about the lack of Touch My Clickwheel action going on here at Georgetown seeing as Jess and Kate have abandoned me here and I cant do the show without them. Touch My Clickwheel will be back next year, but I'm not sure I can wait that long. In the absence of expressing my feelings on air, I will have to blog instead.

Lightspeed Champion... is Champ

I've already called it that Lightspeed Champion will be a huge success in the indie world, but as a lot of the other music blogs out there are doing, I need to declare it in a post.

I saw Lightspeed Champion perform at Rough Trades East in London on Monday and I was impressed by his live performance, solid and true to the recorded tracks, something I value as opposed to Andrew Bird-like shows. Anyways, what I didn't realize is that Emmy the Great was providing backing vocals. Was she at the in-store? Probably. Can I be sure? No, because I couldn't see anyone but Dev Hynes, Mr. Lightspeed Champion himself.

The London anti-folk scene is a bit incestuous. Emmy the Great, once a member of Noah & the Whale, playing with Lightspeed Champion as well as solo. Laura Marling, amazing solo as well, replaced Emmy in Noah & the Whale. Noah & the Whale... I'll devote a new post to them later.

Here's the full 10-minute version of "Midnight Surprise" by Lightspeed Champion. I like it better than the radio edit. It's got the variety that say... Rilo Kiley's "Pictures of Success" accomplishes in its 7 minutes. It's also got a bit of the twang that RK has incorporated in their later work. Enjoy! (My favorite part starts at about 7:54 and lasts 'til the end)

St. Vincent covers

St. Vincent is no slouch in cover songs. From The Beatles' "Dig A Pony" in London's Black Cab Sessions and to "Yeah! Oh Yeah!" by the Magnetic Fields, she rarely disappoints. I spotted this on You Ain't No Picasso, but decided to re-post here since I enjoyed it so much. "Yeah! Oh Yeah!" is one of Stephen Merritt's 69 Love Songs and until now, has been one I have overlooked. Here's a cover of it from St. Vincent and John Vanderslice from a show at the Echo in LA.


And to renew your love of "Dig A Pony," here's St. Vincent playing fuzzy electric guitar in the back of a cab. I never quite appreciated the guitar work until I saw St. Vincent play it... and until I played it terribly in my room after being inspired by her performance. Enjoy.

Emmy the Great

Continuing my ode to London anti-folk, here's a great performance by Emmy the Great in a Black Cab Session. Especially likeable are the fiddle plucks. TMC-ers are suckers for them, as well as hand claps, shoop shoop's, bop bop's, and la la's; occasionally, we are also suckers for banjos, accordions, and xylophones.

I don't know what the song below is called, but it's enjoyable. Also check out "Canopies and Grapes," one of my favo(u)rites, through the ol' Hype Machine. At first, it seems like it's an unbelievably emo break-up song, but when she sings that she "feels worse than when S Club 7 broke up" I can't help but smile a little.

Thoughts on "Best of Lists"

It's really boring when Best of 2007 lists from various staff members of a blog are 50 albums in 10 different sequences. Here at Touch My Clickwheel, we take pride in liking music that we're not supposed to like... especially Lauren. Perhaps a tardy "Best of" list will show up sometime soon.

Lover, Please: Laura Marling

I've been coveting Laura Marling for myself. I wanted to tell everyone about her and keep her a secret at the same time, but good things must be shared and Laura Marling is a good thing. She's only 17 (and I am a talentless 20) and she sings poetic and true. Her voice is refined but not overly formal and reminds me of the typical female singer/songwriter but with some more. "Ghosts" is my absolute favorite and has been on repeat for the past week. Check it out, as well as "New Romantic," down below. Luckily for me, she is based in the UK and will be in London in February. New Yorkers check her out in January. I hear she's a bit shy on stage but her performances are not to be missed.

Check out her myspace at http://www.myspace.com/lauramarling.

UPCOMING SHOWS

Jan 14-15: New York, NY at Sidewalk Cafe

Jan 16: Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell's

Jan 17: New York, NY at The Annex

Jan 18: Brooklyn, NY at Union Hall

Feb 1: London, UK at Soho Revue Bar

(See MySpace for further tour dates)

Chromeo: More Synth!

Talk box + synth + more synth = gold. Go stalk this guy at Columbia University.