Pretty ladies are one thing. But pretty ladies who can sing? That’s something else. And who does this poor introduction benefit? Why, Welsh born Jem, singer of many delightful tunes of course! Keeping with my long-running tradition of posting stuff we’ve all heard of before, Jem plays a charming mix of pop with electronic leanings, spliced together with the occasional acoustic-y number. Her singing is reminiscent of Imogen Heap of Frou Frou fame, and Sophie Barker who sings a few tunes for Zero 7. So if you like that kind of mellowed out prettiness, then Jem should suit your pallet. If not, then I guess I didn’t sell this post very well. She’s had a couple of her tunes featured on Long Way Round (yay) and Grey’s Anatomy (not so yay), as well as some other bits and pieces here and there.

Jem only has the one album at the moment: a new one was supposed to be out last year, but it’s kinda disappeared for the time being. Hopefully, it’ll resurface this year! For now, here’s some last.fm approved tunes to listen to.

No doubt I’ll be lauded as a total whore for posting about this soundtrack (the indie peeps get a bit pissed when people hail this soundtrack as “indie”) but I don’t care: this is dang good mix.

The thing about mix CDs ya see is that most of the time around 20% of it is good (i.e. songs you can really get in to) and the rest is generally OK, to poor, to utter crap. HOWEVER. The Garden State soundtrack is quite excellent, thanks to Braff’s excellent vision/audio hearing capabilities. There’s an extremely nice mix of indie (Cary Brothers, Remy Zero, Bonnie Somerville), downtempo (Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Frou Frou), classics (Simon & Garfunkel) and even some folk (Nick Drake). Granted, the popularity of the album has probably elevated the status of some of the artists (*cough*The Shins*cough*), which is why some tossers complain when some guy says “That’s indietastic!”. Well, I say “Screw you, suckers!” – this is an accomplished mix of goodness that should already have been sampled by everyone out there on the Internetz. Check it out: I guarentee you will like at least ONE tune on there…

Continuing on with my theme of downtempo music that everyone has probably already heard because they’re old releases, here’s the lowdown on The Mirror Conspiracy by Thievery Corporation. Now, considering I already revealed the genre to you, I’ve probably blown this post way out of the proverbial water!

Anyhoo, if you’ve been listening to Zero 7 lately, you can say that Thievery Corporation is a more “hardcore” version: a more uptempo downtempo, if you will. Generally speaking, their music is less vocal-y and less real-instrumental-ly (teehee), but not to the point of it being absurdly electronic. If I were you, I would go ahead and check out Lebanese Blonde (which was in Garden State, yay!), Focus on Sight, Shadows of Ourselves and…well, you know what? You should just check it all out, cos it’s pretty awesome!

Ok, this is a ridiculously tiny post, but hey, short and sweet!

From The Mirror Conspiracy
Shadows of Ourselves – SWF (Flash) File

It’s rare that I manage to get my hands on a something that was released only a short time before. So it was with considerable anticipation that I ripped the CD out of its case and whacked it into my laptop to listen to it. After hearing the first track (Futures), I knew I was in Zero 7 heaven: this is one seriously awesome CD!

While it does continue the tradition of some damn quality chillout/downtempo tunes, it does so in a way that seems fresh (when compared to their previous albums, that is) – be it a different type of beat (If I Can’t Have You), the addition of new vocalists (Futures) or even the addition of a lovely acoustic track (Left Behind). This is a much more natural Zero 7, which still manages to easily maintain its aura as night-time city music (or so my mind says anyway).

Oh man, now this is weird: two albums in the one post! I bet you are spazzing out as we speak! Anyhoo. Welcome to Zero 7’s 2004 release When It Falls. Although, in my opinion, not as accomplished as their debut (Simple Things) there are a good few tracks on this album which I feel warrent a listen! The first song I shall point you to is the single Home. Following in the style of In the Waiting Line but with a far more edgier, erm, edge, Home is a definate “must listen”. Continuing on from here, we hit tracks like Passing By (another in the vein of In the Waiting Line), and then some instrumental pieces like When It Falls and my personal favourite of the entire album Look Up. We then finally reach Speed Dial No. 2, a wonderfully beautiful track, filled with the very pleasing tone of Sia Furler.

Don’t get me wrong, you should by all means get When It Falls if you’re a Zero 7 fan like I am. Heck, all I basically did was list my favourite tracks on the album!

Ok, this post has gotten WAY outta hand!

The music itself isn’t mechanised to the point of it being harsh: it retains a gentle brilliance through the use of actual instruments *gasp*, which is a welcome change from most electronically influenced music. Most humbling, I would say and definately worth a looksie, especially I Have Seen and Give It Away.