The Long Blondes

It took me a while to finally get around to listening to The Long Blondes. I think if anything, they looked too perfect for me to not look at them with a bit of a jaundiced eye. Too pretty, too British, too well dressed. But I finally broke down. Maybe I was afraid that they were all blondes. Thankfully they are not.

Now I can't say they are as perfect as I feared. But they are definitely worth a listen. They move around the sounds of influence well (everything from Elastica to Dancehall Crashers to Saint Etienne to girl group 60s cheerleader rock) and keep you guessing a bit. I don't think all of their experiments work per se, but again, they could do a lot worse.

And of course, if you name check Anna Karina in a song, you have already won me over.

The full record is worth a listen, so I'll give it a 7. These two tracks though get 8.5s.

The Long Blondes- Lust in the Movies
The Long Blondes- Separated By Motorways

Lily Allen Companion Mix

So I have been planning this forever, but finally sat down and got it sorted. This is by no means a response or anything to Music Like Dirt's assessment of the Lily Allen samples or a definitive statement of any nature.

I basically found that the real reason I love Lily Allen's Alright, Still is because it reminds me so much of other UK artists I love. It is almost a document on the breadth of the British musical palette in one slick candy coated pop gem.

But I also know that lots of folks might miss out on these allusions so I thought I'd do a public service by putting together a companion mix. In my opinion, the following tracks greatly inform the album in some way or other. Some have similar hooks, some have similar subject matter or ethos and others were simply important cultural moments that musically educated a hip twenty-something Londoner like Lily Allen.

I have not included the Lily Allen songs in this mix, (for best results) go buy the record then create an Ipod playlist in this order.

Lily Allen Companion Mix
Lily Allen- Smile
Saint Etienne- Split Screen
LA- Knock Em Out
The Streets- Fit But You Know It
LA- LDN
Bodysnatchers- Let's Do Rocksteady
LA- Everything's Wonderful
Morcheeba- Love Sweet Love
LA- Not Big
Neneh Cherry- Buffalo Stance
LA- Friday night
The Specials- Gangsters
LA- Shame for you
Portishead- All Mine
LA- Littlest Things
Saint Etienne- Sylvie
Happy Mondays- Loose Fit
LA- Take What You Take
Robbie Williams (featuring Kylie Minogue)- Kids
LA- Friend of Mine
The Clash- The Guns of Brixton
Junior Murvin- Police and Thieves
LA- Alfie
Madness- House of Fun

Honestly, I wanted to avoid using Saint Etienne twice but those two fit too well to avoid. Hopefully this exercise helps people understand my love for Lily and also turns you on to stuff you might not know and/or reminds you of some songs you haven't heard in a long time. Enjoy!