Well I have finally finished my work for this term and so am able to do an update with the music that has got me through a couple of weeks of stress, and varies quite widely through genres as per usual.

I’ll start off with a song that was played in almost its entirety on the West Wing Season 4 opener (which is as far as I’ve got so far with the series – loads of good stuff to go I know :)), and that is I don’t like Mondays by Tori Amos. It’s a great and yet haunting track which is a cover of good ole’ Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats. There is also a box-set available of her stuff for those of you that are yet to experience her unque charm.
[Visit] Tori Amos / MySpace
[Buy] Tori Amos – A Piano: The Collection

[Download] Tori Amos – I Don’t Like Mondays / 2

Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 has been on numerous film and tv soundtracks as far as I can work out and that is why it sounds so familiar (although it could have been my mum blasting it out throughout my childhood), but either way it is a very calming and relaxing song, with this rendition by Yo-Yo Ma the best that I have heard. It is in one word beautiful.
[Visit] J.S. Bach / Yo-Yo Ma
[Buy] Yo-Yo Ma – Bach: Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites

[Download] Yo-Yo Ma – Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 (Prelude) / 2

The Blow are a great electronica/indoe band from Oregon in the States and produce songs that to me give off a similar feeling to Hot Chip and some of the other uber cool bands of the moment. Prentheses is the first track I heard from their new album and I fell in love with them straight away. It was the perfect album to start rehabilitating myself into the Christmas party atmosphere.
[Visit] The Blow / MySpace
[Buy] The Blow – Paper Television

[Download] The Blow – Parenthesis / 2

Kid Koala is a Canadian DJ I only heard of in the last couple of months with the release of his latest record ‘Your Mom’s Favourite DJ.’ I instantly adored the way he manages to use scratching and turntablism as an instrument in the jazz, swing and big band style sounds that he mixes. He manages to add an almost freeform jazz factor to song classic songs that sound like they’re from the 1920’s, updating them to the 21st century and making them catchy as hell. This track is from his first album, simply due to the continuous mix that is his second album and I didn’t want to chop it up, and it does show off his skills to great effect.
[Visit] Kid Koala / MySpace
[Buy] Kid Koala – Your Mom’s Favourite DJ

[Download] Kid Koala – Skanky Panky / 2

…and lastly an Australian band that is starting to recieve the hype it should and that is Architcture in Helsinki (AIH). The spacey electronica from these guys will guarantee to put a smile on your face if not start to see the LSD trip of dancing pink monkeys and elephants. They have just released a remix album, which although good doesn’t quite match the tripy gooooodness of the original or the first album where this track is taken from.
[Visit] Architecture in Helsinki / MySpace
[Buy] Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die

[Download] Architecture in Helsinki – The Owls Go / 2

-Tim