Track of the Week - Redlight

If you're the sort of person that thinks that all dance music is just noise that sounds the same then you're going to absolutely hate this one... if not, then read and listen on!

This week I'm loving a track by UK producer of the moment Redlight, who you may know for his recent hit Get Out My Head.


The intro to Bass Kone has a kind of carnival feel and then builds into an amazing groove with a heavy raw bassline.... love love love it!

I can't find any details of a date this will be out other than its a forthcoming release on Chase and Status' label MTA, but will update this if I find out.

If you like this one check out Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and perhaps even Buraka Som Sistema for a similar style.

Do you love it or hate it?

Lindsey

Outfit of the Day: Mellow Yellow

Top: George at Asda

Jeans: New Look

Shoes: Barratts

Necklace: Wallis

Ring: Miss Selfridge

Nails: OPI Road House Blues

Finally I've got round to editing the photos and finishing the post with the outfit I wore for my girl's night out last weekend. If you saw my Nails of the Day post you'll remember that I picked out the blue colour especially to go with this ultra bright yellow top.

Obviously aside from the bright colour I fell in love with this top for both the cut out detail on the bottom hem as well as the fabric - its sheer on the front and then a softer contrasting fabric on the back. A lot of great detail for the bargain price of a tenner from George at Asda would you believe it!?

I've kept the rest of the outfit fairly simple with black skinnies and heels and finished with a statement necklace made up of twisted chunky bronze and blue chains that complemented the nail varnish colour.

Girls night was tapas for dinner and then cocktails in Leeds... my boyfriend was in Barcelona for the weekend and I seem to remember having to put myself to bed on the bathroom floor when I got back after a few too many margaritas and tequila shots! Oops...

Great night though! 

Lindsey

Weekend Hot Mix - Art Department

To celebrate a friends birthday this weekend, its all about Back to Basics where Art Department will be headlining on Saturday.


Signed to the Crosstown Rebels label, Canadian duo Kenny Glasgow and Jonny White are masters of a underground electronic sound with their signature synths and raw vocals.

Today's Weekend Hot Mix is two hours long and is the Essential Mix Art Department recorded for Radio 1 back in October last year.


My favourite track has to be Tanner Ross - B Side which I'm kicking myself wasn't Track of the Week a while back!



Free to download as usual if you like it...

Enjoy!

Lindsey

Nails of the Day - Road House Blues

I've not done a Nail of the Day post since I started my mission to rescue my nails back from bad Winter health... but finally I'm not to embarrassed to share the state of my nails with the world!

I know pastels are in for Spring/Summer but I'm off out tonight with the girls and this colour will look fab with the outfit I've chosen (hopefully will get this up in a separate post if I can manage to get some decent photos later).

Road House Blues is from OPI's Autumn 2011 Touring America collection and is a gorgeous dark midnight blue - I'd say it almost looks black when I'm inside but once the light catches it you can really pick out the rich blue. Its creamy, really glossy and goes opaque easily after two coats.

Now usually I'm not a fan of any varnish that's too dark or blue-ish as it doesn't seem to work with my skin tone and I find it makes me look pale and brings out the blue in the veins on my hands. Having said that, I absolutely love this colour from OPI... the finished result is like a luxurious, creamy inky blue and looks amazing in natural daylight.

In fact I love OPI full stop - I find it easier to apply than other brands, the quality of the varnish and the shape of the brush means even though I'm a bit cack handed, I've managed to get two coats of this dark colour on without making a complete mess of it. 

What do you think of the colour? Would you wear it?

Lindsey

Weekend Hot Mix - Roberto Rodriguez

Hopefully you've all recovered from the four day weekend and have well and truly got that Friday feeling again...

My Weekend Hot Mix this week is an hour of the finest deep house from Roberto Rodriguez.

Some of you may be thinking the name sounds familiar... I mentioned him last month in my March Gigs post as a DJ/Producer that's definitely worth seeing. He played at Flux last month and put this mix together for their podcast.

This one is free to download if you like it...




Enjoy

Lindsey

Track of the Week - NY Stomp

I'm going back to a house record this week... been loving this one for a couple of weeks but heard it out a few times over the bank holiday weekend and knew that it was definitely one to share.

The NY House Track is deep house at its best, with a killer groove, great chord sequence and short vocal loop. Anyone that know's me will understand this is right up my street!

NY Stomp is the new alias for dutch DJ and producer Gerd and the NY House Track is out on UK based Illusion Recordings.

This one has definitely got legs and I think we'll be hearing it in clubs all summer!

Enjoy!

Lindsey

Outfit of the Day - Wishes Do Come True

It was only on Monday this week that I posted my April Wish List so imagine my surprise when I got home from working away in London on Wednesday to find a parcel waiting for me. When I turned the parcel over to open I saw a little sticker saying Sugarhill Boutique and I was so excited... I am now the proud owner of the Cherry Bomb Shift Dress!

My lovely boyfriend had only heard me talking about how much I liked the dress (think I'd showed him the picture about 3 times!) and for once, he actually agreed with me that it was nice and decided to surprise me with it as a present!

Dress: Sugarhill Boutique

Leggings: Miss Selfridge

Boots: Primark

Necklace: Warehouse

Belt: Dahlia on Carnaby Street

I wore this dress yesterday to go for dinner and to the theatre to see Sister Act which has left the West End to tour the country. I actually saw the show when I was living in London when it guest starred Whoopi Goldberg who wrote the production but despite this being my second time I actually enjoyed it more than the first time - the cast and singing is incredible plus my boyfriend had got us tickets in an upper circle box so we had a great view and the two of us were sat on our own!

I wore the dress with black leggings, a buckle belt to nip in the waist a bit more (it did look fab without the belt too), my suede boots that you'll see in a lot of my outfits and then a cute chain with a solid block pendant detail.

Aside from the gorgeous print and the cute sleeve detail, I love the fabric - it was actually a lot better quality than I was expecting. That's no disrepect to smaller fashion retailers, I just find you never know what you're going to get when you order online - I generally check the material before I buy but sometimes things do seem cheaper when you see them in the flesh.

Overall I'm really pleased with it and the boyfriend has earned major brownie points too! I'm a very lucky girl!

Lindsey

April Gigs

Decided against doing a Gig of the Month post as there's so much happening in April that I couldn't possibly pick just one.


The extended Easter weekend means that there's a ridiculous amount of nights out to choose from to suit all musical tastes. Here's my pick of the best...


Tonight I'm off to the theatre (how cultured) to see Sister Act (ok so maybe not!) which has been running in the West End for a while now but has ventured up north for a few weeks. After that I'll be heading to the opening of new Leeds venue Arch 4 where house producers Waite and Armani will be kicking off the proceedings. Danny and Eddie as they are better know to me were responsible for this awesome remix of the Lana Del Rey smash Video Games.

If you've got tomorrow off I'd head down to the Leeds Warehouse where Lee Foss will be headlining the Jackathon. Lee is signed to Jamie Jones' label Hot Natured and produced one of my favourite tracks of last year Forward Motion. He'll be playing at 12:30am-2:30am and be joined by Watergate resident Heidi. This one will be great... if I'm still standing by then!

If these don't float your boat there's The Futureheads at  The Wardrobe and Emile Sande at the Leeds O2 Acadamy, where electronica legends Orbital will be playing tomorrow night.

Later this month you've got another two great gigs both at the Warehouse again - Art Department will be playing Back to Basics on 21st April, and the legendary Speedqueen returns on 28th April - tickets for this one sold out on the website in 3 minutes so hopefully see you there if you managed to get a ticket. Check out a mix from resident Tintin on my previous Weekend Hot Mix.

I like loads of different styles of music and aside from the the club nights there's a couple of live gigs I'm looking forward to later this month. Miles Kane is playing at the O2 Academy on 25th April - I caught him supporting Arctic Monkeys last year and can't wait to see a full set from him. The following night I'll be checking out Kwes, featured in my Track of the Week, at Brudenell Social Club.

Sorry if you don't live in or near Leeds... just wanted to share which gigs I'll be heading to this month!

If you live in London my recommendation for the month is The Roots at Basing House on April 12th. The night was started by Bushwacker (a favourite of mine since a very untraditional hen party last year at a dirty club in Greenwich!) and Richie Fingers and is all about playing original house music. The line "Everything you hear now. This is where it came from ..." explains what they are about and the DJ's will be showcasing some of the finest house music from a 25,000 record vinyl collection! This is the second monthly party they've thrown and I'd love to be there! You can find the facebook event page here.

Which night's out are you looking forward to in April?

Lindsey

Track of the Week - Kwes

I've got this great new track for you this week and its a different sound to anything else out at the moment.

Kwesi Say, or Kwes for short, is the latest signing on Warp Records, with artists on their books such as Aphex Twin and Maximo Park. If you love your music, you may know the name as this guy from Lewisham is not new to the scene. He's been producing and remixing for some time now and has worked with the likes of The XX, Zero 7 and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.

Bashful is the debut release from Kwes on his forthcoming EP Meantime out on 1st May. I think the track is clever - its melodic and soulful but at the same time has an interesting electronic sounding beat.

I for one cannot wait to hear what else this guy has to offer...

You can catch Kwes at the following upcoming gigs:

• 26 April - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
• 28 April - Kwesachu 2 Launch, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, London
• 4 May - Land of Kings, London
• 5 May - Camden Crawl, London
• 6 May - Simple Things Festival, Bristol
• 11 May - The Great Escape Festival, Brighton
• 17-19 August - Beacons Festival, Skipton
• 1 September - In the Woods Festival, Kent

I'll be at the Leeds gig for the bargain price of a fiver!


Hope you like the track!

Lindsey

April Wish List

We're at that awkward mid-season time of year again where I'm adamant I have absolutely nothing to wear and I want everything that's in the shops. I also seem to be dressing inappropriately for the ever changing weather conditions like wearing a sheer top when its sunny but turns out its still 9C outside or being caught in open toes in the rain.

I'm also planning lots of nights out and holidays to Ibiza and Marbella so I am basically wanting to spend money when I should be saving.

However, in that parallel universe where I've won the lottery and money is no object, here's what's on my April wish list...

 

1. Sugarhill Boutique Cherry Bomb Shift Dress
I discovered this site after seeing it on another blog (the Raspberry Branch) and found this absolutely gorgeous dress apparantly worn by Denise van Outen! Love the print but I think the cut is just perfect - 3/4 sleeve and nipped in waist would look great on.

2. Top Shop Macarena summer sandals
Love love love these! I'm a sucker for a peeptoe flat - much more flattering than a flip flop and definitely more appropriate for the office. These are super soft and comfy (well as comfy as they can be from test driving them in the changing rooms!) These come in black, white and pink... can I justify 4 pairs?

3. Zatchels Classic Satchel in Red
Zatchels are everywhere at the moment and I'd love the classic in red... this will never go out of fashion and is so practical as well. 

4. Next Magenta Suede T-Bar Sandals
I have to confess I've given in and ordered the Next sandals today as they are going to be my staple wedding season shoe this year. Have FOUR weddings to go to between June and August! Luckily I'm bridesmaid at one of them so its one less outfit to worry about but I thought these magenta shoes will jazz up any dress that I wear and is bang on this season's colour blocking trend!

5. Deborah Lipmann blue nail varnish - On The Beach
Do I need to explain why I want this colour? Completely different to anything I've seen anywhere else and would make a change from my usual summer coral...

Add a pair of leopard print converse, a nice gold watch and any Mulberry handbag to this and you've got my ultimate wish list but I've tried to keep it realistic and achievable ;)

What items are on your wish list and do you like any of mine?

Lindsey