Headhuntress' Music Playlist 10th March 2011

I haven't given my poor blog any tender loving care for a while.  The reason being that I have been
working on my new indoor market, Southsea Boutique Market. But  I have been dying to join in with Mumra's playlist, so now;s my chance.  If you click the button below, you can join the linky and read other bloggers playlists.  It's a great way to find out about other people and it's also a great way for potential new readers to find your blog.

 

I am obsessed by music and have a very eclectic musical taste.   I'm also quite technical in the way that I listen to music and will often get side tracked by the way riffs move and harmonies work before I hear the melodies.  This means that when I ever try and sing along to songs that I don't know really well, I get all the words completely wrong.  In fact I usually just make my own words up, which has become a running  joke amongst my children.

So, Mumra has shared her playlist for the gym.  I take my Soulwax, Nite Versions CD to the gym because as well as being brilliant and full of beeps and whizzes, it's really fast pace and gets me running better.  I like to do intervals on the treadmill, jog, sprint, jog, sprint, so this really gets me going.

This is a Soulwax mix taken from Youtube.  They are blooming brilliant encompassing electronic hyperactivity and a live band.  I always try and go to seem them if any of them happen to be playing locally.

I have a ridiculously huge music collection saved on various computers and MP3 players around the house and there's too much to choose from.  So I'm going to share some of my favourites from my Youtube account.



I'm also a big fan of Air.  I love their melodic low fi sound.  I have all their albums, but one of my favourites is the  soundtrack to the awesome movie The Virgin Suicides, you can view the video for Playground Love above which just captures the angst and mood of a 70s teenage love in my opinion.



This track, Mans Needs by The Cribs just reminds me of walking into Little Johnny Russells on a summer's evening with girlfriends and needing to dance before we even get to the bar.



The Cure are just completely brilliant, so moody, so cool.  I was introduced to this track aged 15 when my friend who was at boarding school in York made me my first mix tape.  The Cure are playing Bestival this year, I absolutely cannot wait.  It's going to be something else.  They have made some great tracks, all of them timeless, but I particularly like this one as it's one their earliest and so ahead of it's time.



Simian make incredible music.  Well, I say make, they are no longer together.  Such a shame.  I play both their albums, Skin and Chemistry over and over.  They have a unique sound, terrific melodies that hit the musical spot as far as I'm concerned.



I adore the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and I particularly like a good mash up, nobody does it finer than The Kleptones.  They were only introduced to me recently by a friend, but since then I've been hooked.  The track above sounds just gorgeous, perfect for a walk on the beach with your ipod playing.



I love the mood of this track.  Bouncy yet melodic. Such great production, yes, that means nothing to most people I know.  I just feel they have done a great job with the texture of the sounds, contrasting with vocals, guitars and layering. Fantastic.



As a vocalist myself, I hugely admire Minnie Riperton.  She absolutely has the best vocalist of all time in my opinion.  Controlled, a huge range and none of that Ms Aguilera warbly nonsense.  If you are not familiar with this track, you will have heard of her other big belter. "Loving You."  If you haven't, then look it up. Your ears will thank you for it.

So, I'm guessing this playlist will be a regular thing, so I'll wind it up for now so i have plenty to share with you next time! Till then I'll leave you with this XX remix of Florence and The Machine's, You Got The Love.  I am not a fan of Florence. I admire her work, but I find her a bit shouty, but this track is totally brilliant.  Yes it is.

Guest Post by Mumra Blog Please Don't Hate Me - I didn't Sign Up For This!

I am super busy at the moment, trying to upload and photograph all my new stock before Christmas which means I'm not able to do any writing this week.  But my very lovely friend Mumra has kindly leant me her favourite and most popular post for all of you to enjoy.

It's a very funny and thought provoking article, you can read more of her fantastic blog here:

http://mumrara.blogspot.com/

So, without further ado, I present to you:

Please Don't Hate Me. I Didn't Sign Up For This

"The older I have got the more I have realised that I suffer from something I can only describe as limited social skills. It is not that I am not good with people, I am. Having worked in some sort of customer/client based job for nearly all my adult life I've had to be.

I also have friends, honestly I do. I love those friends dearly and I love their children. They are people I want to talk to, talk about, ask about. Strangers and new people I just don't deal too well with.

I'm lacking in certain areas. It is mainly because I don't like a lot of people and I'm not very good at covering it up...I'm not a confrontational person don't get me wrong. I'm just not very good at faking interest or appreciation.

This has become more of an issue for me since having Tabitha-Lo. At parenting class Jay and i would sneak in and sneak out. We sat at the back, whispered, giggled and made up stupid stories about the other people in our group. The only thing we got from the class was not to turn up to the next one and hope no one noticed.

I am aware we sound like really bad people, we are not. I can't really prove otherwise right here and now but please take my word for it.

My first morning i went to clinic getting Tabitha weighed i sat with my head down playing about on my iphone. Other mums were chatting about night feeds, telling birth stories. I was texting Jay telling him 'I am in hell'.

I know I need to address it, I want Tabitha to be a social child with lots of group activities to attend and I will have to take part in the school gate chatter at some point. It is so hard when you just don't care.

''Your sons how old? Does he sleep through? hmmmm reallly? Yes I know......Zzzzzzz. Sorry my head just fell off.''

Random people who approach small children in buggies are another issue for me. I get a lot of comments on Tabitha when we are out. I know its because she is a cutie and she blows raspberries but seriously! This is my shortlist of offenders....

1. Grannies who smell of wee or sherry and grab her face and call her a 'poor thing'.

2. Grandparents who fill you in on their grandchild/child ratio.

3. Teenage girls who say 'Oh My God How Cute!!' a lot.

4. And worst of all the parents who talk via their slightly older child 'look at the baby, isn't she lovely, say hello'

I'm really sorry but when i had a baby i did not sign up for a lifetime of walking round with a fixed grin and a pocket full of happy chat.

Some people will think I'm harsh or a miserable moody cow.

I'm really not I'm just out buying bread and milk."

By Mumra August 2010

So, how do you feel about well wishers poking their sixpence worth into your day? Do you swell with pride and enjoy the attention?  Or would you rather the ground just came along and swallowed you up like Mumra?  To be honest,  I was Mrs Anti-Social of Anti-Socialville until I had child number three recently.  I had decided that the best way to have a quiet and happy life was to avoid people at all costs.  So, day in day out for about two years, the only time I went out was to go to the post office to deliver my parcels.  I only communicated by text, sent emails and I developed an aversion and irrational fear of using the phone! 

Cup of tea and a cry anyone?

I realised it wasn't the way forward when I became so bad that I couldn't even take a call from my own Mum.  So, I started to force myself to go out to social groups when I was preggers.  And yes, I sat in the corner, nursing my cup of tea with a tear in my eye, not speaking to anyone  for the entire bumps and babies groups.  Who wants to do that?  I certainly didn't.  Of course, so many groups were like that and they didn't need to be.  

Lonely

So, I realised that the only way for me to get better was to turn things around and be the opposite of how I felt.  I made it my mission to make sure that no other new or pregnant Mum, was sitting in a room that I was in feeling like she was invisible or her baby was screaming too loud.  So, that's what I did.  I harnessed that acting training as Mumra suggested, got my groove on and made it my mission to be the annoying happy friendly one.  

Start the day with a Boudicca Cry!

After a while it stopped feeling like acting and became natural.  I now actually feel like the gregarious fearless teenager that I used to be all those years ago and if there's an invitation for anything - I'm there like a shot.  I also find that food or wine being on offer helps a lot.

So, fill us in, what are your social fears? How have you coped with the unwanted attention and cooiness that comes with having a gorgeous baby, that no one ever thought to tell you about  when you became a parent?