My Musical Cupcakes

So today was probably one my worst work days ever – and I’ve been there on a Monday hungover and sleptunder and have also survived the inner turmoil of having to spend the day with spilt soup in my bag wondering how I was going to carry it home when I left (it turned out ok because the bag was sturdy but had gross dry soup covered things inside). Yes, today, as some sort of self-April Fool prank, I forgot my earphones at home. This meant that I had to face a musicless day and endless empty spaces where sound would usually be as both a means of escape and a concentration tool.

Within these zone outs (and sometimes genuinely jarring moments where I realised a lot of my work habits revolve around music) I would fantasize about the songs and albums that I look forward to hearing every day.  I don’t have the kind of internet at home to stream music (Internet Access is a whole n’other post) and at work I get to have days soundtracked by my current favourites with the added bonus of the unabashed use of the repeat button. I decided to call them Musical Cupcakes, because cupcakes are the little happy makers that are like rainbows on a cloudy day and in my mind today was pretty overcast.

MUSICAL CUPCAKES

Sisyphus ‘Rhythm of Devotion’

This is from my current favourite albums by unlikely, genre-question marking trio Sisyphus, which is made up of story-rhyme rapper Serengeti, dreamy indie archetype Sufjan Stevens and alt hip hop producer Son Lux. Sisyphus the album is as mashed-up as that line-up sounds and it’s got the bizarre, the interesting, smatterings of Broken Bells and straight-up good lyrics (like the storyline of two outlaws in ‘Lion’s Share’ and the line “taller than Seth Green” in ‘Flying Ace’). ‘Rhythm of Devotion’ is definitely a standout track mainly because it’s a cool jam with throwback vibes and a pretty sweet sentiment.

James Vincent McMorrow ‘Gold’ 

It was actually difficult to choose which song from James Vincent McMorrow’s early 2014 release Post Tropical to single out because every day I fall in love with a new one and I cannot stop listening to this album. It’s an airy soundscape of a colourful galaxy with beautiful simple details – the light plings of a thin-string guitar in the addictive ‘Cavalier’, the frolicking handclaps in ‘Post Tropical’ or the giant bold bursts of brass in ‘Gold’. I’ve listened to this constantly since it’s come out and when in doubt, I always come here.

Damon Albarn ‘Lonely Press Play’
Sometimes I love the internet because I can accidently stumble on something that can turn an average day into a high-fiver. A few days ago I was on the YouTube homepage looking for something else and saw Blur/Gorillaz-guy Damon Albarn under ‘You Might Like This’. You’re right YouTube. I might like that. ‘Lonely Press Play’ is off Albarn’s soon-to-be released solo album Everyday Robots and it’s a melancholic (something which a lot of his music is, actually) melody with groovy clickety clacks and camera shutter noises to make it a happy listen too. He’s now made it to my official Can Do No Wrong artist list and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing.