Music Hit: thecocknbullkid

I stumbled across thecocknbullkid (real name Anita Blay) the other day, and she has impressed me! She is a 23-year-old artist and musician from London, and focuses on an electronic sound. This sets people off, because of the colour of her skin. Her heritage is from Ghana, so people expect her to be “more urban”, but “she doesn’t want to be seen as a performer of grime or R&B.” This is simply because she “hates being prejudged”, even though she clearly doesn’t have a grime or R&B sound. She puts it nicely herself:

“I’m into the new and futuristic. People put me in the MIA category, but I’m not grime and I’m not some ‘ghetto princess’. I want to make pop music. The media put black people in boxes. It really irks me.“

She’s also had some trouble in the music industry as far as her look goes. She’s a real woman’s size right now (as in, not size 0-2), and those women generally have a harder time making it in the music business.

She has also been told that she’s not thin enough to make it in pop. In fact, she used to look more conventionally pretty, but she shaved her head at the side and put on weight in a deliberate ploy to make the struggle to be successful even harder and to make similarly “unattractive” fans feel less alone.

She says that when she was more “conventionally” pretty, she was miserable. She now feels better and she wants people to just be able to accept her and her music at the weight that she is.

Ultimately, her music is some great electro-pop. But it’s not just the beat that makes this music. Her lyrics are very honest and very real. She’s not about to hide anything in her music. Watch her video for “I’m Not Sorry” below. Also, check out her MySpace here!

Music Hit: Lykke Li

Truth be told, I discovered the wondrous Lykke Li months ago, but she deserves the spotlight! When I discovered her months ago, I realized I had found one of my favourite new artists. The first thing I noticed about Lykke Li was that she uses music in an extremely interesting way. The first song of hers that I had heard was Dance, Dance, Dance, which is pretty much all beat, and it wasn’t the music we’re used to in the traditional sense. It brought around these new, interesting sounds I hadn’t heard much of before.

Alright, I’ll end my tangent. Lykke Li. She’s an indie artist from Sweden, who just released her first album Youth Novels, in 2008. Her album made it to #3 in Sweden and to #8 on the US Heatseekers. As well, her song Possibility is on Twilight’s New Moon soundtrack. She’s definitely been making people take notice of her in the music scene.

Please take a listen to her. She is a breath of fresh air, with her music being compelling and peaking your senses a bit more! Check Lykke Li out at her website or MySpace!

Because I love her so much, I am posting two of her songs! Enjoy!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Acoustic version of I’m Good, I’m Gone featuring Robyn

Music Hit: Anya Marina

Today’s music hit is featuring an awesome artist named Anya Marina. Her music has been featured on a number of TV shows, which include Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, The Real World and most recently, The City. Her single, “Satellite Heart” (which is off of her second album, Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II) is also featured in the new Twilight movie, New Moon. Not too shabby, eh?

Most recently, she’s been making a mark in the musical blogosphere with her cover of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like”, which was featured on Gossip Girl. I recently looked up the video for this song…and I must say, it’s amazing! I like to think that it’s kind of a mockery of the song, but that’s probably just me. Anyway, it was definitely not what I expected. Would anyone really expect a music video to be set in a sex shop? And on top of that, have Andy Botwin from Weeds in it?! No! But yeah, Andy was definitely a huge bonus. So, here, I give you that video.

Alright, now that you’ve watched the music video, go check Anya Marina out at her MySpace, Twitter or her website.

I love me some Sarah Haskins!

Sarah Haskins has come out with a new Target Women! It’s about Broadview Security and it’s of course, a great new video!

What I especially love is that it’s clear that males are the ones that are breaking into the homes and are a threat, however, it’s also men that “save the day” and are the “hero” because those are the men that work at Broadview Security and call you, when your house has been broken into. I love that Sarah brings that up!

Music Hit: Let’s Go Sailing

Direct from the website, “Let’s go sailing is full of rainbows and fairies. But it also has a darker side…It is full of lost and neglected stuffed animals found at the side of the road.” Let’s Go Sailing is headed up by Shana Levy, who decided herself to start this new venture, and is the essential face of the group. They have worked with Chris Chandler (Flaming Lips/Modest Mouse/Elliott Smith) and Rod Cervera (The Rentals/Weezer).

I personally enjoy the song “Sideways”. It’s chill and mellow, yet a little happy, but offers more heavy and dark than that. There is a deep, beautiful use of instrumentals, especially strings, in the song. Check out Let’s Go Sailing at their Myspace, Facebook, or Last.fm.

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Music Hit: The Plastiscines

I’ve decided to start a new weekly post to showcase some awesome female musical talent. The music world is still quite a man’s world, and a lot of wicked female artists/bands don’t get showcased.

Image via Sugarscape

The Plastiscines are an all female rock group (although, on their Myspace, they describe themselves as “disco house/thrash/glam – which makes them even rock more) from Paris. They do most of their songs in English though, but their French stuff is equally as enjoyable. Then again, I’ve always had a thing for all French music.

I admit that I was watching the last half of Gossip Girl (my guilty pleasure, which is quickly transforming into a no pleasure thing), so I checked out some more of their stuff. My personal favourite song is “Bitch”. I don’t know what they were wanting to get across here…but I personally see it as an awesome song to reclaim the word “bitch” itself.

As far as being an all female band, they say, “Being girls, we naturally get to hear things that, most probably, a guy band wouldn’t hear.” They have some other kick-ass statements as well:

The second album was a real challenge, we wanted it to be great, to show people we were not just a girl band with pretty faces. We wanted to show to the people who used to say we were just ‘dolls’ that we were actually a fucking rock band writing good songs and rockin’ out ah ah!

In the end, this all female rock band is strong, fierce and ass kicking. I put this music on, and I feel freaking awesome.

Quote of the day!

This was found in the comment section of the article in my previous post. Supposedly, Sweden isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

“Sweden is one of the worst social models to adopt. It is a country which is governed exclusively by militant feminist groups in the interests of feminists and their girl children. Men are second-class citizens.”

So, are you saying that it shouldn’t be the highly ranked 6th country on the Human Development Index? I guess the “militant feminist” thing is working!

These days…

Isn’t is so true and sad?

I prefer the unmarried option

Thanks Natalie Dee!

I literally laughed out loud

This…is funny. Shout out to all the grandma’s in the house!

Click here to see this grandma’s favourite sport!

I’m totally NOT advocating man-hating, but…

I feel as though there’s a feminist blossoming out of that comic!

I can’t help myself!