The sound of November

Ok, so this isn't really one of those official "about one song" blogs. This month, all my writing efforts have been swallowed whole by the monster that is NaNoWrimo. For those who don't know, that's National Novel Writing Month. It's an insane literary journey that saps every bit of creative energy from me in an effort to birth 50,000 words that will eventually be known as genius.

So what does that have to do with music? For me, everything. The entire concept for this novel was born out of two very key songs - the Stanton Warriors remix of Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc.", and the song "Writer's Block," by Just Jack. "Feel Good, Inc." set the plot, and "Writer's Block," set the tone and main character. I'd go into more detail but I'll likely end up making my novel sound better than it actually is.

I know neither of these are especially new, but there's something that can be said for their inspirational qualities, both lyrically and atmospherically. Rather than trying to write about music, I've been trying to write about the initial impression music makes on me, which is a bit less concrete, and in some ways, a bit more fun.

Regardless, there are a couple songs that have worked their way onto my NaNoWriMo playlists, and thus have been making sneak appearances in the novel so here goes.

Florence and the Machine - "Dog Days are Over"
Florence is from Iceland and is fantastic and weird. Or so I've read, but I personally just think she's fantastic in a non druggy Amy Winehouse meet childlike simplicity of White Stripes kind of way.

Little Boots - "Stuck on Repeat"
Her EP has left me drooling for more. She's currently out on Vice's label in the UK and her EP is being released on IAMSAM recordings - when? Not soon enough. She's sexy and alluring in a Goldfrapp kind of way but with a Madonna-y disco glitz.

And finally, I've been listening to a crapload of (surprise) 80's and 90's UK. So yes, a lot of James and Oasis and New Order. But most importantly, in rediscovering the Gorillaz, I've also rediscovered Blur and gained a new found respect for Damon Albarn. He is the definition of prolific with each of his bands venturing into different genres (Blur - rock genius that was sadly overshadowed with the success of the song that will forever be known as "Woohoo!", the Good, Bad, and the Queen - indie rock, Gorillaz - genre bending trip hop, and now Monkey - Chinese opera??) and each retaining his distinct, vaguely atonal and perpetually angst ridden sound.

Hopefully this should be enough to chew on for the rest of the month until I return fortified, and with more coherent, educated sounding rants in the month of December.