Inside Nokia Music

Last Friday I was lucky enough to go and see She & Him play the first (and smallest) of their London dates at Camden’s Koko. As is customary at Koko on a Friday night the show started ridiculously early (to make sure everything was done and dusted in plenty of time for Club NME) and the band themselves took the stage – after having requested no flash photography – at 8.30.

This was the first time that I’d seen She & Him, but I’m a fan of both of the records, although I’ve never felt that the uber cute Ms. Deschanel has strong enough vocals to carry some of the tracks. It came as a welcome surprise to discover that live this was not the case. Her voice was probably the best thing about the whole show, a perfect mix of strong and girlish –  my friend at one stage exclaimed that her ears were very happy.

M Ward was awesome, the entire affair sounded absolutely perfect. Zooey showcased her multi instrumentalist talents and for the first song or two we all ooooohed and aaaahed in the right places, but soon after I found the novelty wearing off. This was due to 3 factors. 1) Koko doesn’t have a sloped floor so if you’re not in the first few rows of people standing you’re not really going to see anything without constantly playing dodge the guy in the middles head. 2) The high percentage of girls with side swept bangs that wouldn’t hesitate to tell us all how in love with Zooey they were, at the top of their voices,in between every song, and 3) Super beautiful though she is, is slightly lacking in the stage presence area.

This being said, it sounded amazing, and when in Koko, that’s kind of a lot.

If you’re not familiar with the work of She & Him check out the video for current single “In the Sun” and swoon accordingly.

Both of She & Him’s albums (Volume 1 and Volume 2) are available to download at Nokia Music Store. If you’ve got Comes With Music download the pair for free!

Haha!… sorry, how could I resist?

Nokia’s Comes With Music service has revealed the world’s top crooners after research into the listening habits of music fans around the world.  It showed 34 year old Michael Bublé was even more popular than classic crooners such as ‘Ol Blue Eye’s himself Frank Sinatra and has dubbed him “King of Heart’s” this Valentine’s. The Canadian singer (news to me) is the only artist in a top 10 love songs list who is under 60 and still recording music… here’s the list

NOKIA COMES WITH MUSIC LOVE SONG TOP 10

Micky Bubbles “King of Hearts”
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Marvin Gaye
Barry White
Nat King Cole
Donna Summer
Nina Simone
Leonard Cohen
Dionne Warwick

If you’ve already downloaded Michael Bublé’s back-catalogue and are after more musical inspiration for Valentine’s Day, Comes With Music has over 376,291 songs with the word “Love” in the title – All of which can be downloaded free and legally, and kept forever as the perfect soundtrack for any romantic occasion.

From pop ballads to songs from Bollywood love scenes, awkward Indie love songs, romantic Rock ballads or even Anti-Valentine’s songs, check out our Valentine’s Day playlist

Chin-Chin!

There was a great article in last Saturday’s Wall Street Journal about the Irving Berlin classic, White Christmas, and it’s hard to avoid giving the song its due, even if it’s not your cup of eggnog. For instance, Bing Crosby’s version is the biggest-selling record of all time according to the Guinness World Records, with total sales of over 100 million copies. ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) reckons that 500 versions of White Christmas have been recorded, in dozens of different languages.

All of which is a far cry from the song’s debut in the film Holiday Inn, in 1942. Berlin, the song’s composer, was so unsure of how the song would come across that he reportedly hid on set so he could watch Bing Crosby sing it to his co-star, Marjorie Reynolds.

Brains. They’re great, aren’t they? Heavy little grey globs of consciousness that make us everything we are. Without them, we’d be no better than plants, or bits of string, or Jeremy Kyle. Yep, whichever way you look at it, brains are brilliant.

So why, then, does mine turn on me at every given opportunity? It’s not like I treat it badly. I give it books to read and films to watch and music to listen to, but every so often it’ll cough up the remnant of a long-forgotten memory or make an unbreakable association that will forever ruin something I used to love. This is especially true of music. In the same way that I know I will never be able to fully enjoy vodka again after the night in 1997 when I drank most of a bottle of Smirnoff, then vomited across the entire length of the Clifton suspension bridge from a moving car, I also know that there are some pieces of music that I will never be able fully enjoy again. Although, unlike the vodka incident, I don’t think it’s entirely my fault. And I can’t really blame the musicians either. It’s someone else’s fault entirely.

Read the rest of this entry »