girlsnotgrey's Last.fm Journal

2012 in albums

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Again, no ranking, just a few albums I liked/loved.

Lost in the Trees – A Church That Fits Our Needs
Gossip – A Joyful Noise
Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Julia Stone – By the Horns
Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE
The xx – Coexist
Andy Burrows – Company
The Black Atlantic – Darkling, I Listen
Bloc Party – Four
The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
Me & My Drummer – The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey
Blood Red Shoes – In Time to Voices
Santigold – Master of My Make-Believe
Soap&Skin – Narrow
Maxïmo Park – The National Health
DIIV – Oshin
Efterklang – Piramida
Sizarr – Psycho Boy Happy
Isbells – stoalin'
Peter Broderick – These Walls Of Mine
How to Dress Well – Total Loss
Flying Lotus –Until the Quiet Comes
Sigur Rós – Valtari
Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind
Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – Stare EP

gigs in 2012

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 15:27:37 +0000

gigs in 2012

21.1.2012 The Black Atlantic 8/10
Lovely! And proof that a band needs to try and connect with the audience in some way and not come off as assholes like Wild Palms (which I also saw that night).

24.12.2012 Florence + the Machine 9/10
AMAZING. Florence is simply mesmerizing and to finally hear her voice (and Cosmic Love) live was incredible.

13.4.2012 Robot Koch
I don't even know how to rate this, I guess it was stupid to expect him to play the stuff from The Other Side at a techno club. Or perhaps I should just learn how to dance to dubstep.

2.5.2012 Soap&Skin 8/10
Anja Plaschg has such an amazing stage presence, very impressive. Vater.

11.5.2012 A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Again no rating because it wasn't a 'real' gig, they were playing the soundtrack to a (weird) film but what I heard was great, especially considering there were only two people on stage. Would love to see them play a proper gig.

23.5.2012 Austra 7/10
Definitely not the right venue for them (Centraltheater) because you need to dance when you see them! Anyway, once again I danced my ass off and I would probably go see them just hear Lose It live any time.

13.7.-15.7. MELT! 7/10 (better line-up next year, please!)
Highlights:
Bloc Party! … fuck, I love them.
The Rapture (HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE GODDAMMIT BEST LIVE SONG EVARRR)
Gossip (OH MY GOD BETH DITTO ASDFGHGLLKM)(I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU)
Zola Jesus (lovelovelove)
Dillon (even though I didn't get all of it – Tip Tapping <3)

20.10.2012 Maximo Park!!!!!!!!!!111111111 10/10
My band. In my city. Stay. Limassol. Monument. Fuck. Yes.

3.12.2012 Efterklang/Peter Broderick 9,5/10
They are SO AMAZING live. Doesn't compare at all to their already wonderful records. Plus I fell in love with Peter Broderick that night. Oh, you.

I can't believe I've only been to six actual gigs this year. That's depressing. Need to do better in 2013. Seriously.

2011 in albums

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:33:28 +0000

I've never made a list like this before but here's a few albums released in 2011 that I really liked/loved

The Kills - Blood Pressures
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Beatsteaks - Boombox
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
Wye Oak - Civilian
Dear Reader - Idealistic Animals
Apparat - The Devil's Walk
Nôze - Dring
Austra - Feel It Break
Nils Frahm - Felt
Woodkid - Iron EP
How to Dress Well - Just Once EP
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
City and Colour - Little Hell
Feist - Metals
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
Robot Koch - The Other Side
Agnes Obel - Philharmonics
Mimi - Road To Last Night
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Burial - Street Halo EP
K.I.Z. - Urlaub fürs Gehirn
Bodi Bill - What?
La Dispute - Wildlife
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
N'TO - Jane EP

gigs in 2011

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:11:28 +0000

14.2.2011 – Maps & Atlases7/10
good show. Best bit was when they left the stage after the "normal" gig and continued playing a couple of acoustic songs in the middle(!) of the audience.

15.2.2011 – Azure Ray 7/10
Their voices are just so perfect together. They didn't play my favourite song (it was a single ffs!) which made me a bit sad. Also the support was really good – a guy with a guitar who played the most adorable cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', aww.

4.3.2011 – Gold Panda 7/10
I like to rave it with gold panda!

11.3.2011 – Efterklang 8/10
Ah, seeing Efterklang in a theatre could only be magical, I definitely loved their music a bit more afterwards.

5.5.2011 – Bodi Bill 9/10
I was drunk. But it was fucking awesome once again. I just love them, okay.

6.5.2011 – Sufjan Stevens + DM Stith
DM Stith gets a 9/10 because I didn't know him before and fell in love with his music right away. As for Sufjan - I will not even try to give this a rating because there are no words or numbers for the experience that this show has been. I remember sitting in my seat not knowing what to think or feel because I was just too overwhelmed. Once again, I'm just gonna quote a review here: "ein konzert, eine herabkunft, eine offenbarung. wem das zu pathetisch klingt, der war nicht dabei." ["a gig, a descent, an epiphany – whoever may think that is sounds too elevated has not been there."] perfection. unforgettable. Luckily, unlike with the Arcade Fire gig last year, I could share the experience this time. [Marie & Claudia know what I'm talkin' about!]

29.5.2011 – Nathaniel Rateliff 8/10
Seriously, there are not many songs that touch me more than Whimper & Wail live. So powerful. Oh, Nathaniel, let me hug you.

15.6.2011 – We Are Scientists 9/10
My babies. In London. With awesome sci cave refugee camp people and Dana. One day after handing in my BA paper.

16.6.2011 – Austra 8/10
After a night without basically any sleep, I am still more than happy that I decided to go see them. It was worth it just to see Lose It live. And her voice is just fucking incredible, live and on record.

15.7.2011 – Melt! 2011
I don't want to rate this again. You Melt! my heart. My favourite performances, as boring as it may sound: the Streets [LOVED it], Editors [always awesome] and surprisingly – Robyn. Also great: Patrick Wolf, Jamie Woon [Jamieeeeeeeee], what I saw of K.I.Z. before almost collapsing due to exhaustion, When Saints Go Machine, SBTRKT. More raving again next year. Love to the zeltcrew.

25.7.2011 – An Evening with Ólafur Arnalds 7/10
Very special performance, Óli improvised it and isn't he just the most adorable person ever.

30.7.2011 – La Dispute, … 6/10
Being so uncomfortable at 'hardcore shows' always ruins it a bit for me but La Dispute were great anyway. HIS VOICE.

1.9.2011 – Beatsteaks 9,5/10
Beatsteaks in a small club – can't get any better. Love.['only' a 9,5 because my favourite songs would have made it perfect.]

26.9.2011 – Dear Reader 7/10
Again, Cheryl is just so sweet and I love her voice. I have to say though that even if she played my favourite song, I would have liked to hear more songs from her first album. Still good.

5.10.2011 – City & Colour 6/10
I feel bad giving this a low rating because I was really looking forward to finally seeing Dallas. And it was good but let's just say – C&C + Astra just doesn't go well together. Basically no atmosphere whatsoever during most of the show.

7.10.2011 – Nils Frahm 8/10
Oh, Nils. You are competing with Óli for being the most adorable thing ever. The way he plays the piano and completely loses himself while doing it impresses me so much. And he just seems to be the most humble human being.

19.11.2011 – Nôze @ Audio Invasion 10/10
FUCK YEAH NÔZE.

..I need to go to more gigs again next year.

100.000 tracks and 5 years on last.fm

Thu, 2 Jun 2011 07:46:24 +0000

time for a few stats! yay! and yeah, mock me, I saved a word document every 10.000 plays. SO WHAT. I LIKE STATS!

1st track
No Flowers, Please
10.000th
History Repeats
20.000th
Violent
30.000th
Only This Moment
40.000th
Two Steps, Twice
50.000th
Good Friday
60.000th
Hide And Seek In Geisha’s Garden
70.000th
Glow
80.000th
Two Steps, Twice
90.000th
I'm Not Ready To Forgive You
100.000th
Fail Forever

Two Steps, Twice twice. nice.

Artists in the Library: 1,604

Overall Top 10 Artists:
1 Maxïmo Park - 6,101
2 We Are Scientists - 4,558
3 Placebo - 3,282
4 Foals - 2,204
5 Beatsteaks - 2,171
6 The Rakes - 1,506
7 Bodi Bill - 1,463
8 Moneen - 1,457
9 Ludovico Einaudi - 1,423
10 The Libertines - 1,249

Overall Top 10 Tracks:
1 History Repeats 714
2 I Want You to Stay 659
3 There Are A Million Reasons For Why This May Not Work... And Just One Good For Why It Will 444
4 Limassol 281
5 Without You I'm Nothing 268
6 Get Off 251
7 It's A Hit 243
8 Demons Galore 229
9 Two Steps, Twice 223
10 Lexington. (Joey-Pea Pot With A Monkey Face) 219

that is one depressing top 10, apart from Foals. and Chiodos? what? when did that happen? whoops.

Overall Top 10 Albums:
1 A Certain Trigger 1,884
2 The Red Tree 1,204
3 With Love & Squalor 1,165
4 Antidotes 983
5 Capture/Release 793
6 No More Wars 717
7 Curtains 706
8 Without You I'm Nothing 599
9 Moderat586
10 Myths Of The Near Future 551

[I can't believe Klaxons are in that top 10 and Ludovico Einaudi isn't.]

Loved Tracks: 159

used Tags: 6 [yeah, I don't really use them]
most used tag: seen live [109 times]

Events attended: 121

Seen the most:
Maxïmo Park - 8x
We Are Scientists - 7x
Foals - 5x
Blood Red Shoes - 5x [3x supporting the Park]
Bodi Bill - 4x
Ólafur Arnalds - 4x

there are no statistiscs for the countless of amazing bands that I discovered thanks to last.fm.
I love this website so much, I hope it will never ever go offline. I sometimes think that I'd delete my facebook account before I would delete my last.fm profil.

so yeah.
last.fm <3

gigs in 2010

Sun, 9 Jan 2011 14:11:43 +0000

22.1.2010 – Arms & Sleepers 5/10
not as good as it could have been since it was definitely lacking a vocalist.

11.2.2010 – Good Shoes 7/10
surprisingly good actually! I SAY – ICE AGE! <3 also a good opportunity to make fun of hipsters dancing like retards.

19.2.2010 – Pantha du Prince 8/10
ah, Saturn Strobe live.

19.3.2010 – Bodi Bill 10/10
again – I just love them way too much, they break my heart every time. and the visuals were so amazing and fitting too.

12.4.2010 – Foals 9,5/10
I remember tweeting that I would travel around the world to see them live after this gig, so I guess I have to give it a 9,5. BECAUSE THEY NEVER PLAY TRON. nah, it’s ok.

7.5.2010 – Ólafur Arnalds 8,5/10
I pretty much cried throughout the entire gig. it’s just not a 10/10 because the atmosphere wasn’t the best – incredibly noisy, chatty, ignorant, annoying crowd.

16.-17.7.2010 – MELT! 2010 8/10
my body being a complete dick, I couldn’t enjoy this 100% like last year. I won’t rate every single perfomance I saw – highlights were definitely Turbostaat, M T-B and The XX. need to rave more again next time!

Blood Red Shoes
Bonaparte
Booka Shade
Broken Bells
Foals
Jamie Lidell
Johnossi
Jónsi
Martina Topley-Bird
Massive Attack
Midlake
Moderat
Pantha du Prince
The xx
Turbostaat
Two Door Cinema Club

9.8.2010 – Portugal. The Man6/10
something pretty to look at for 90 mins! :D still, the show was missing 'passion' for me, but they are nice!

24.8.2010 – We Are Scientists, Minus the Bear (Berlin) 8,5/10
MTB didn’t get the attention they deserved, WAS were fucking great, of course. ah Keith...

31.8.2010 – Arcade Fire, Owen Pallett 11/10
gig of the year. tears randomly streaming down my face during No Cars go out of sheer, well.. awesomeness. and Owen Pallett was the perfect support [incl. a cover of Caribou's Odessa, aww]!

3.9.2010 – James Yuill 6/10
always fun to watch/dance.

28.9.2010 – Old Crow Medicine Show, Nathaniel Rateliff, Mumford & Sons 8/10
NATHANIEL! most surprising and probably my favourite (previously) unknown support act ever, sooo touching. OCMS were incredibly annoying after the first two songs. M&S were wonderful.

16.10.2010 – Mice Parade 5/10
nothing outstanding, but I wasn’t really into them before the gig, so, who knows.

31.10.2010 – Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm 9/10
Amazing venue, great visuals, Nils Frahm was just perfect and so sweet. DUET WITH OLI! Love.

3.11.2010 – We Are Scientists (Dresden) 8/10
ah beatpol.. a little club full of WAS memories. <3 Textbook!

16.11.2010 – Ludovico Einaudi 10/10
actually another candidate for ‘gig’ of the year. I liked it even better than last year’s performance. EVEN IF HE DID NOT PLAY PRIMAVERA.. AGAIN.

18.11.2010 – Blood Red Shoes 9/10
so much energy! loved the show and crowd too. always a good sign when you are disgustingly sweaty after a gig.

21.11.2010 – We Are Scientists (London) 9/10
I’ve always wanted to see them in the UK. what can I say? FUCK YEAH! finally a truly enthusiastic crowd.

24.11.2010 – Menomena 7/10
interesting how bad of a listener I seem to be after all, not noticing they have three different vocalists, haha. good gig, they played like two songs that weren’t on the new album which got me into them, so good for me!

26.11.2010 – Kele 10/10
Maybe he even deserves 11 too! definitely the best gig along with Arcade Fire, even if I’d never even expected to say that. I LOVE KELE. so nice, and, excuse me, sexy, and oh that setlist. Bloc Party mashup, and to end it with this Modern Love.. :emo: and I think best ‘rave’ of the year too [also thanks to an amazing crowd]! lovelovelove.

30.11.2010 – Foals 8/10
For some reason, it didn’t blow me away like their other gigs although the crowd was actually great. But as always: Two Steps, Twice is the best live song ever.

gigs in 2009

Sun, 9 Jan 2011 14:00:31 +0000

I wrote this last year, but since I wanted to post my new "gigs in 2010" thingy, I thought I might as well add this on here too.

7.1.2009 - Gregor Samsa 8/10
Just beautiful. they played what would become my favourite song after the show – 9:02, mindblowing.

19.1.2009 – The Rakes/James Yuill/Filthy Dukes 6/10
Both support acts were really electronic, strange combination with the Rakes. The Rakes were good, not a memorable gig like the one in 2007 though.

23.2.2009 – Maxïmo Park 9/10
Lido = my favourite venue. The Park. That is all. No Stay though!

25.3.2009 – Joshua Radin 7/10
Some annoying people in the crowd. Joshua is the sweetest guy! YES, Winter.

9.4.2009 – Mr. Oizo 9/10
Up to this point – one of the best, as we call it, RAVES of the year. :D

25.4.2009 – Audio Invasion/Bodi Billl 11/10
One word: Bliss.

30.9.2009 – Moderat 7/10
I wish I could give this a 10 because I love them so much but there were WAY too many people and I could barely move, let alone dance. Still – Out Of Sight.

15.5.2009 – Dj Koze aka Adolf Noise
I’m not giving this a rating because it wasn’t a gig as such [what was it anyway? :D] [ok neither were some others in this list] but I still want to mention it – Mr. Kozalla, you are nuts! And therefore pretty great.

17. – 19.7.2009 – Melt! Festival 10/10
Perfect weekend! Let’s see..

Bloc Party 7/10
I heard from a lot of people that they’re much better usually. Well, I liked it a lot. It also made me fell in love with One More Chance which I hated before :D plus This Modern Love. Sigh.

Röyksopp 7/10
I didn’t get all of it but from what I saw – great. I got there right at the beginning of What Else Is There. What else do I have to say..

Klaxons 5/10
Ok, I’m not so much into them anymore but hearing the album live again brought back some good memories!

Digitalism 9/10
YES WE CAN! [erm I don’t know why I said that] dancing like we were never going to stop while the night was about to end. Lovely.

Patrick Wolf 9/10
I definitely fell for him that day!

!!! 7/10
Good to see them again and they always remind me of one of my favourite days ever – London 21/02/07. Nic is still the best dancer in the world.

The Whitest Boy Alive 7/10
Very nice.

Paul Kalkbrenner 7/10
Dancing to Altes Kamuffel all alone [well, technically not ALL alone..] outdoors was pretty damn great.

Yuksek & Brodinski 10/10
Because Brodinski’s set was right after Yuksek's, I’ll put them together in here and say: FUCK YEAH!

Polarkreis 18
Again no rating but the naked guy going insane during their show deserves to be mentioned because he attracted more people than PK18!

Bodi Bill 6/10
Only played half an hour instead of one :( I love them to no end though, so it was still good to see them again. there’s a very small snake..

Frittenbude 4/10
Well, they are horrible in my opinion :D but the atmosphere caused by the relatively small crowd was pretty amazing, so it’s a 5 for that.

[Yeah, I’ve seen a few more but I won’t start judging bands I barely know if I didn’t get their full set (Travis, Cold War Kids, Kasabian, Phoenix, Oasis [so dull!] etc etc)]

18.8.2009 Beirut 6/10
I was pissed off almost throughout the entire set because I didn’t see a thing and seemed to be surrounded by annoying couples, plus Beirut guy [sorry dude, I’m sure you have an actual name] was sick apparently, still a good show though!

15.9.2009 Anna Ternheim 7/10
She’s really good. Go see her if you get the chance. Very small, intimate venue, too.

1.10.2009 Patrick Wolf9,5/10
Definitely one of the best gigs of the year. Amazing.

3.10.2009 Dear Reader 8/10
Unbelievably sweet band. I have no idea why The Great White Bear wasn’t my favourite track by them before that night!

9.10.2009 Maxïmo Park 9/10
It would have been a 10 BUT AGAIN, NO I WANT YOU TO STAY. Pff.

9.11.2009 Ludovico Einaudi 8/10
Well, it’s Ludovico Einaudi, what can I say. And again, it would have been a perfect show for me if he had played more sad songs, I don’t care if that sounds weird. And the set was definitely lacking Primavera! HOW COULD HE LEAVE OUT PRIMAVERA?

10.11.2009 William Fitzsimmons 8/10
Again, WAY too many people. Show itself was great, Willy [!] is even greater, I may take back what I said about Joshua and say that Mr. Fitzsimmons is the sweetest guy ever :D so funny and yet his music is so depressing! [“writing depressing songs seems to be the only thing I’m good at..” aww, come here big boy!]

22.11.2009 Editors & The Maccabees 8/10
IF YOU GOT NO KIND WORDS TO SAY.. ! I’m so in love. Editors were good too, bit of a lazy crowd. The first two albums are so much better live..

29.11.2009 Ruiner 7/10
Ooh, I’m not allowed to judge hardcore shows because I’m a stupid little indie girl, right? [great show!]