Madrigal

Huge Annie fan right here...I keep wanting to make a thread, but never get around to it. Besides the singers and bands who already do have threads, I agree with PinUpGirls about Mat Kearney. The happy songs on his last LP are simply , they're so good...not a fan of his ballads, but he can write really great bridges. VV Brown is coming out with new music, and it's very different from her last album (or two), but it's not bad by a long-shot. Very operatic, dramatic, with a bunch of religious overtones...she followed Kate Nash's lead and is totally ~INDIE~ now, but I think the album will not fail to impress. There was a song at the end of the last episode of the new 'Arrested Development' season that I actually really liked, and it's by a singer named Lucy Schwartz...I downloaded that one for free, but it's interesting enough that I might actually check her out. Finally, I am quickly becoming a massive fan of self-entitled Swamp Hop singer Ivy Levan. Matt Squire, whom I follow on Twitter, will not stop tweeting about her all the time, and I finally checked out her music on SoundCloud and was completely blown away...super catchy, and her voice reminds me of Christina Aguilera's without the annoying-ness. If you're interested, as everyone should be, you can check her out here.

Not at all! Here's the problem; lately, I've realized more and more that certain aspects of my collection were inadequate at the time I uploaded them...for example, I lumped "Paper Doll" and "On the Wire" in with the new-er stuff, and I didn't even realize that "Almost Lover" was a cover. But it'd be a lot of work to completely redo my collection, so how about if you need anything, you can just ask + I'll be happy to help. In other news, my promos finally came! I think I'm going to hang the 'Everything is Embarrassing' one up on my wall, but the other two will have a permanent resting place in my CD shelf.

Your ship may be coming in You’re weak but not giving in To the cries and the wails of the valley below And your ship may be coming in You’re weak but not giving in And you’ll fight it You’ll go out fighting all of them And it's become just like a chemical stress Tracing the lines in my face for Something more beautiful than is there I've barely been gone :worship: You never knew why you felt so good In the strangest of places Like in waiting rooms and long lines that made you late Or mall parking lots on holidays

I can't believe it...my first eBay purchases finally came! It's Sky Ferreira's 'Ghost' EP, her 'Obsession (The Remixes)' collection, and the 'Everything Is Embarrassing' Promo, with radio edit and instrumental. I really would've settled for just the first of these three, but I really want 'As If!' so my collection can be ~complete.~

1. It's Charli, so...

"I Feel My Stuff" - Brian Eno & David Byrne

I've seen a lot of Charli pictures, but this takes the cake for grossest. Did she just wake up and realize she had an award show to be at? Let's see, favourite pictures...besides the universally loved one I have as my account picture, there are a few especially I really love. There's actually one more, that @@Trash Magic posted quite awhile back, but I can't find it at the address that he originally posted it at! x_x I think I saved a copy on my iPod...it's of her reclining, very elegantly, on a red fouton, with her eyes tactfully averted and some sort of pink clothes.

I'm so proud of her! Quick, everyone go retweet this tweet and try to make her notice it!

You always shadow chasing, that's no bueno, no bueno

Don't forget: 1. Angel Haze - "Dirty Gold" 2. Sia - TBA 3. A*M*E - TBA 4. Arcade Fire - TBA 5. Sky Ferreira - "I Will" 6. Charli XCX - TBA 7. Lykke Li - TBA 8. Jenny Lewis - Some soundtrack, comes out soon. So many indefinites.

This is so hard, because even though I was kicking and screaming after finding out about the tracklist, I have grown accustomed to it, and think as an album it's not only very strong but super cohesive. ​Nuclear Seasons. Really, what other song could she open with, overlooking "Stay Away" and "Take My Hand", because each of them is at an extreme end of Charli's emotional spectrum? A perfect song, with perfect production and brilliant vocals. I would add that the intro doesn't really improve on the track, so that is obviously out of the question. Feel My Pain. This song has always struck me as nothing if it's not anthemic - the hook alone is simply . Though not the best opener, I think it would be very appropriate to place it as second. You (HA HA HA). The vengeful break-up song just needs to go at the front half of my Charli album...I can't really imagine it back with the ballads at the end. It helps accentuate the tormented nature of the latter track, and provides a good backdrop for the frustration of the next. So Far Away. Guys, you don't know how much I wrestled about this song being on the tracklist. I thought it didn't fit! I didn't even like it as a b-side. But now I've finally come to begrudgingly accept its subtle beauty, and think it belongs here more than even "Grins". Stay Away. A widely-accepted masterpiece, a miserable yet masterful ballad on a universally understood theme. Naturally, one of the older songs on here, but I can't really imagine it as an opener (too dark), but it still deserves attention & fawning over. Black Roses. The closer for the first part of the album - dark enough, but still ambiguous enough to not be as desolate as "How Can I", which will ultimately help balance the album by being the ~dirge~, if you will, for the second half of the album. Ideally, however, there are additional lyrics added, complete with a new verse. Take My Hand. The crown jewel of the album. The happiest, most bubbly moment on the whole thing, and still the most gorgeous song of the entire bakers' dozen. Of course, the (still appealing) outro has to go...if it ends up staying, it would have to be it's own track. Go to the Jungle. Finally, a song not previously seen! This would be the complete version, with every single lyric and note in place. I can't even imagine how beautiful it would be, in full glory. MNEK has written many other brilliant Pop songs, from everyone from Little Mix to A*M*E, and I'm sure the songs he did with Charli are or equal caliber. We have no way to know if "Jungle" is the best of the lot, but seeing as we already have heard some of it and it's the only one they've teased us with, I'd rather hear it than any of the others. What I Like (feat. Danny Brown). I love both versions, but Danny's verse really does add something, even if it's simply another part of the track. I wouldn't mind if he contributed singing vocals too, just too flesh it out into a full-on duet...of all the songs on here, this one might be the easiest to adapt for two voices. Mess. I was afraid I was gonna have to put "You're the One" on here after all, but then I remembered - Patrik and her already did a song almost unbeatable for sheer energy! Who needs a cliche love song when you got one that involves a frenzy of drums, screeches, and abstract lyrics??? Judging from the handful of live performances, this is as HI-NRG as she has ever gotten, and I think it would help add balance. Midnight. I really like it when my albums end with a string of ballads, possibly two or three. Honestly, we have no idea what this song sounds like, but I think whatever it is, it would help to transition from the middle to the last few songs...although I'm perfectly willing to be proven wrong. How Can I. Charli at her most regretful, save perhaps "Stay Away". She's had this song since as early as 2008, so I'm sure it's very dear to her for her to include it. I would prefer it to be the same as the demo mix, because her chorus vocals shine much better without those pesky drums in the background. Lock You Up. One of her best songs, and her best happy ballad so far released. Such a wonderful way to close, but the song needs to be remastered, with a much, much stronger emphasis on the vocals. Oh, and the sappy fake guitar riff from the live performances is really beautiful...not sure how well that would fit with the rest of the album, but I think I'd like it. ~BONUS TRACKS~ Interior. One of my favourite Charli songs ever, I think it didn't make the album just because it's so beautifully weird! It's the essence of what a b-side should be, but in an age where most artists shun such things, it would fit pretty well as a bonus track. I don't think even need to defend this choice, but if I'm questioned, you better believe I will. The Killing Moon. Probably her best cover (since we don't have any audio of her "American Boy" cover from before her fame), and we know she recorded a version that was supposed to be released last year...it definitely deserved a release, so why not put it here? You're the One. I had to save this one above the other two I kicked off the tracklist, so I guess my sentimentality for it really did influence my opinion. I just remember how much I liked this song last summer, and the production certainly fleshes out Charli's more underground/grimy sound...if that's even what you can call those weird opening synths. Definitely not the best way to make a tracklist, but I think that 13 is the ideal track list for most albums, and three bonus tracks would bring it up to 16 songs, which is one of my favourite numbers for deluxe editions! Feel free to comment and yell at me all you want for cutting out Ms. Candy's contribution and completely abandoning "Grins" in favour of "So Far Away", but I feel that I'm pretty set in my opinions here. EDIT: Dangit! I forgot about some songs I'm absolutely dying to hear, so I'm making an addendum. It can be like Ke$ha's "Deconstructed" EP - a companion volume of songs that don't fit with the rest, but are still important milestones in the record-making process. True Romance Strobe Light Get Dirty Warrior Valentine And the Japanese bonus track for this EP is..."I Love It"!

Sure! I rarely listen to interviews (at least recent ones), so I'd love to not have to work to listen to it.

Ha ha (that is to say, HA HA HA!), I think I might have some ideas! Hmmm... 1. What do you think Charli should've done differently on her road to getting where she is, if there is anything you'd alter at all? 2. As far as unleaked material goes, is there anything you'd especially like to hear? 3. You can ask Charli any one question - what would it be? 4. Favourite lyrics, and why. 5. Strongest and weakest Charli moments - at least one of each, from any song. Hopefully these help a bit.

So flattered, you have no idea. @@comeintomybedroom Let's make on of the "Questions of the Day!" be something along the lines of "Write a series of brief paragraphs defending your choice for favourite Charli song and explaining why another of your choice deserves less admiration", or something like that. Just because we have so many really short posts in this thread, and it would be nice to fill it up with long-er entries...and c'mon guys, writing is fun.

"Your Eyes" is a track she is featured on by a group known as Ocelot, "Falling in Love" is unavailable, and "Do It Well" can be found on SoundCloud. No, there is an actual MySpace demo known as either "Falling in Love" or "Falling In Love Again"...I refuse to even consider that the two might be the same track. Hey, I'm all for well-articulated arguments among fans who can argue there points well, but I can't stand pointless, poorly written dialogue. Defend yourself with your impressive writing abilities, and help extend this thread . No you're not!!! I just happened to have 45 minutes on my hands to waste typing out my opinions.

What a terrible question to ask...the reason Charli is my favourite is because so many of her songs appeal to me, on so many different levels. I have to break it up into different subsections, because her career encapsulates so many different movements. PART ONE - "14" My favourite would probably have to be "Yet Again"...though I love "Supermodels and Holiday Stunners", "Watch the Rain", and "Alcoholic" a whole bunch too, "Yet Again" gets stuck in my head the most and I love its concise-ness. I really do like the whole album, to be absolutely honest - choosing just one is really hard. But a least favourite? Either "I'll Teach You a Lesson" (because the opening sounds so promising, but the rest of the song is so shockingly mediocre) or "Live Life", probably...along with "Chas's Song". They're just not really strong tracks, but I still enjoy them from time to time. PART TWO - MYSPACE DEMOS This is 100%, hands-down my favourite collection of Charli's work. That's why I'd rather hear songs like "Pop Princess" and "Falling in Love" from here more than anything since...there was something about her creativity and exploration as a budding artist that really flourished in these years, no matter what she says about it. "Princess Song" is my favourite lyrically, although some of the production elements on the version we have agitate me...I never get tired of her saying Box up the truth, push it to the side. "Do It Well" and "Valentine" tie for overall faves from this time, but it's really hard to single out even two from the few we have...so much brilliance, so precious little left. Least favourites, of course, would simply have to be the Save the Rhino tracks, just because Miss Twiggi's presence adds an aura of immaturity that even young Charli tended to vie away from...since everyone else seems to ignore those two, however, I'd have to say "Too Cool" is less beautiful a track than most from this time, though I wouldn't discredit is as listenable. PART THREE - MIXTAPES (Ideally, there would be a separate subsection for all the songs she did with various producers between 2010 and 2012 that were overlooked for the album, but seeing as none of these have leaked, we don't really have that luxury. ) I love both mixtapes dearly. I remember looping them CONSTANTLY after I started listening to her, and her material was so uncommon that we were obliged to over-listen to every song we had. My favourite from the first one would just have to be her adaption of "Dreams Money Can Buy". Most of you probably haven't heard of Jai Paul as an artist in his own right (not meant as a disparagement, simply as a truth...he is very eccentric/reclusive/niche ), but the primary sample comes from his awesome track "BTSTU", which was further sampled by Drake to become "Dreams Money Can Buy". The chorus of Charli's version just gets me every time. So much energy, so much forcefulness, so much pure vocal power! As far as least favourite from the first one, I'd have to go with "Champagne Coast". I like it, but the mumbling just gets annoying after the first few listens. :/ Now, on to the far more coherent, fairly longer second mix. Choosing is, as always hard...this was the first true release she had after I became a fan, so I had the will to listen through every song on here until I liked them all. However, the song that sticks with least is "Velvet Dreaming (LUV)". I've grown fonder of it over time, but I just think it's kind lackluster lyrically. The high-pitched whispering in it, though...so gorgeous. Naturally, I don't love "Cloud Aura" as much as I might, but this seems to be a fairly common tendency. My favourites here are hard, because every song has at least moment that's just phenomenal! But "Dance 4 U" and "Moments in Love" are top of the list. Mention goes out to "Heatwave" for aging super quickly...not a bad track, but the sample and lyrics struck me as massively shallow after 20 or so listens. PART FOUR - 'TRUE ROMANCE' Favourite? Without a doubt, "Take My Hand". Sure, "Stay Away" is an all-time shocker. Sure, the gliding vocals on "Nuclear Seasons" and "You're the One" are wonderful. Yes, the lyrics on "What I Like" are so undeniably Tumblr-esque that all comparisons are futile. Of course the spoken bridge on "Feel My Pain" is the most wonderfully melodramatic thing I've ever heard, and "You (HA HA HA)" epitomizes the catchy vengeance tune! Yes, "How Can I" is a dirge, and the soft-spoken freestyle raps on "So Far Away" are contemptuous in a truly splendid way. Of course (and how did I not mention this earlier?) "Lock You Up" represents one of the best Pop melodies I've ever heard, and uses cliches in a truly admirable patchwork. But "Take My Hand", as I once said long ago, is freakin' euphoria in a song. So bubbly, a meteoric opal in an already sparkling crystal realm. Least? I knew it had to come to this. However, simply because I forgive "Black Roses" its repetitive nature for its melodic brilliance, "Grins" ends up at the bottom of my hierarchy. I think it's still one of my most played Charli songs, but I felt like it never deserved to be promoted from mixtape status when such songs like "Midnight" exist that we might never hear. PART FOUR - COLLABORATIONS Charli does something that she seems prone to forget - she works with a lot of other vocalists, especially in songs which she has a hand in writing. She rarely mentions the majority of these collaborations, especially with the advent of her new career, but they present some of her best moments. My personal favourites are "Smile" (though I don't think it is beyond fault, especially structurally speaking, the spelling just gets me) and "Like a G6", partly because the latter is essentially the only thing left from the grand ole days when she worked with Uzo Emenike, and partly because her flow in the opening verse is just ! Imagine if she still did stuff like that. Least favourite would probably be "Just Desserts"...I enjoy Charli's lyrics, but I find Marina's lyrics and general aesthetic do not work when applied to Charli's wild energy. "Heartbreak's hard, when you got a plastic heart..." and it goes downhill from there. Honourable mention goes out to "Train In Vain", which for some reason I was obsessed with for about three months and then got so bored of I virtually forgot about it.

Well, it is true that a long time ago, one of her samplers had "Better than That", "Game Over", and "Feeling" on it...but they are really, really old in comparison to stuff from this year. Then again, what has she even released that's newer than 2012? "Heartless" was on that freakin' sampler over a year ago.

EDIT: YOU GUYS PLEASE LET ME BID ON THIS AND WIN I'VE NEVER BOUGHT A CD ON EBAY BEFORE AND IT'S SKY AND EVERYTHING FOR LESS THAN $30 AND IT'S MORE THAN I HAD EVEN IMAGINED AND AJDLKJKLJBLKLFVSNDLKLKFJSFLK PLZZZZZZZZ

Dangit, and I was just starting to see a trend...

:horror:

Though I like love Sky, I don't necessarily think a collaboration would turn out as well as it would in my head. Just look at what happened when she did a song with Marina...it sucked! For me, it would have to be either Angel Haze (so much better than Azealia, you guyz) or a real song with MNEK. Yes, I know they already did a whole bunch between '08 and '11, but we haven't truly heard any of them, and I enjoy his voice and he is a production and composing whiz. Don't forget, Danny Brown is having her on a song on his upcoming album, so we'll be able to hear another collab in (hopefully) just a few more weeks! "Grins" needs something extra (it's actually my least favourite song on the album, sadly), and Sky would have provided just that. . .hopefully, this match-made-in-heaven will occur, despite my qualms. Vampire Weekend's album is on par with 'True Romance' in my mind as the best album released so far this year. Personally, I think Ezra and Sky have a better chance of actually creating a track together (she did after all appear in the 'Diane Young' video), but I would probably pass out if the three of them ever did something together.

I know you mentioned that the age of the tracks she did with The Flames might deter them from being included, but "Puppetmaster" is possibly the best of the lot, and I wouldn't object if he included it.

It was the "latest mix" at the time MediaHorse posted it, obviously, but there has been way more time than necessary since them for her to redo it twenty times. Seeing as the version posted was never supposed to be more than a demo, least of all one the whole fanbase was supposed to hear, I'm sure the quality of the file they were uploading was of absolutely least importance in the mind of those who chose it. To be honest, I'd rather have the final version, "Go to the Jungle", just cuz it's longer, but I wouldn't object if we got both. In fact, I'm hoping that we do eventually get both versions, but who knows how long that's gonna take.

I can't believe you guys. It's so Charli - zany, kitschy, cliche, and adorable.

I love their acoustic stuff, and the whole 'Execution of All Things' album is simply brilliant. My single complaint is the existence of the mystery that is 'And That's How I Choose to Remember It'. I love the song, but I've never been able to cut it apart and piece it back together...it truly does add an element of unity to the album, but I still feel like it solidifies their place as most trolling band ever...what other band would release a cassette of otherwise unleaked demos, and put separate hidden tracks on the CD and vinyl editions of their own B-sides, without giving either track a title. At least I found a way to rip the instrumental demo of ATHICTRI from the website...if any of you guys want it, h.m.u. Right now, I'm trying to love their older stuff more. Someone's helping me find a link to the Sandbox Sessions, their earliest demos, and I'm spending more of my time trying to immerse myself in 'The Initial Friend' and 'Take Offs and Landings'. Jenny's voice, much like Regina's, has changed a lot since the start of her career, but unlike Regi's tonal change, I think Jenny sounds far better now than she did in the '90s. I think 'Emotional' might be my all-time favourite song, but it's very hard to pick a favourite from such a stellar repertoire. 'A Man / Then Me / Then Jim' is also a personal favourite - rarely have I ever heard an artist be so moved by a story she's delivering through the eyes of a third-person narrator. And I can't forget the genuinely gorgeous 'Pull Me in Tighter' demo (from the aforementioned accursed cassette)...it sounds like a happier sibling to 'Let Me Back In', and I can't believe it didn't make 'More Adventurous'. Glad you like it. But though that's a wonderful song, there are so many better....perhaps not equal in total sexual frustration, but the break-up anthems like 'Silver Lining' and 'Breakin' Up' from their last album do the whole getting-over-You tune no better justice than it's ever been paid. Do you guyz like 'Rkives' as much as I do? Cuz I love it, a lot. I've started listening to the tracks I missed on the first listen or twenty, and now I'm really falling in love.