Can I kick it?

Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug

If you feel the urge to freak do the jitterbug

Yes you can

Tonight's post is about three songs, they're not new, not "quirky" or "indie" --- please note these descriptions should be detached from me as a description ASAP. No these songs are songs that everyone knows and remembers and feels that tingling song all the way through to their hiphop bones when they hear them! At Benicassim I saw one of the best DJ sets ever on just before Professor Green. R&B and HipHop all mixed into one little mash up that had the crowd and myself doing a little walking dance towards the stage.

Can I kick it? - A tribe called Quest INTO Fix up Look Sharp - Dizzee INTO Show me what you got - Jay Z. 

"Show me what you got little shorty?"

The first song "Show me what you got" Jay Z - gets me every time with the saxamoofone at the start, Jay Z is my train journey music for a casual Tuesday morning but I can't attach such a song as this as "train music". His work over the years has been substantial and memorable to say the least... but for me it's times as these in a dusty field in the middle of Spain when you're looking down at the programme for the next band when Jay Z's music excites me the most! Unexpected and beautifully vintage!

Do the Humpty Hump.

“Hey fat girl, come here are you ticklish? Yeah, I called you fat, look at me, I’m skinny. It never stopped me from 

getting busy.”

The next song, "Humpty Dance" Digital Underground - it wasn't played that night but it's one of my absolute favourites. WHY?! God knows why! Not in the religious way before you make all your "So your name is Grace Easter? You're proper religious then?" jokes! My brother, the star child dancer of the family loves HipHop and dresses for the occasion every day... if our house was free of parents I swear we would blare this song out daily!

So for me, listen and rem-inis!

FiftysAtHeart xx

The Revolution will not be Televised

New York is killing me.

Note to all shoppers at Urban Outfitters, Leeds: When you look through the rails, pulling out dresses in the sale to have a little look at. Please treat them like broken glass because little old me has to tidy them all up! A girl picked up a top today, walked 5 yards and dropped it on the floor today and walked off today. Come on now! Ha. One thing I will say about my lovely new job, besides the great staff to work with, great clothes and atmosphere.... the music! All day every day I'm jamming (well secretly jamming ie. shimmying through the rails/tapping my little walkytalky) to brilliant music. I had heard of Jaguar Skills before only from my friend Sophie at Uni who had mentioned a fair few times that we needed to go see him. And for some reason I missed it. Jaguar Skills is an album they play at UO at the moment, alongside Annie Mac/Two Many DJs and some other wicked remixes. They sell all the CD's in store too so I may have to make a few purchases when PayDay rolls around - HURRY UP Friday!!! This Friday is PayDay/Night out in Leeds/Change my hair colour AGAIN day...... Can you tell I'm excited - MUCH. 

Not as excited as I am about this new song I was sent by my bestest friend who is a boy EVER. Now Taran Uppal probably knows me better than I know myself EEEEmotional wise/likes and dislikes etc. But I was never sure he knew my music taste. When we lived together, before a night out I would run down to his room for him to check my outfit/tell me I looked fit ha. And he would do the same... Yesss you did Taz lets not deny it! He would be blaring Kanye West and I would be playing "some weird electronica/house shit" is what the boys called it. But anyway, he's done it. He sent me this song and I am eternally grateful to my Leicester boy!

Here goes: It's melodic, relaxed, electronica, cut copyish and has some slightly reggae soulful vocals. I love it!

Gill Scott-Heron with a Jamie XX remix. Now what I knew of Gil before was that he was poetic and kind of linked him only to his composition "The Revolution will not be televised". After a bit of research I found this spoken word performer of the 70's and 80's to "FUSE" jazz/blues and soul with political issues through collaborating with Brian Jackson a well known composer of his time. He described himself as a "Bluesologist" which he defined as a "scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".  Absolutely wonderful work, but even more so it is brought present by Jamie XX. Know him? Maybe you'll know him by the name Jamie Smith as a member of the The XX who we all know and love.

You don't know and love The XX? Oh do catch up, a boy I used to date says its an album he soley associated to me. God knows why, maybe I went through one of my phases of feeling quite dark and eery because that is what they are. 

Below I have posted a couple of my FAVES, love the word faves. Have a listen, judge, love them, hate them and more importantly let me know :) On this Tuesday of massive Solitude where my friend Kate and I have established we both might need a boy present in our lives for nights like these. I am going to chill to the many remixes and originals of our lovely bluesologist Gil...

FiftysAtHeart xxx

I'd forgotten all of young loves joy.

Want the same things when we play, otherwise mines a different way.

Making my millionth Latte of the day for the keen coffee drinkers of Leeds someone I work with who I shall not name out of sheer disappointment in them walks in and casually says "Winehouse is dead". Laughing he walks away saying "Not a massive loss though is it?". So what did Miss Can'tkeepheropinionstoherself say? Well we'll cut the story short, I got flustered and lectured him that a loss is a loss, she was someone's daughter, someone's first love and someone's best friend that was so badly damaged by drugs that there was no going back. Pure insensitivity! Rant over? Ooo I think that's enough for today! 

But what a sad loss it is to the music world as well as her family&friends&fans. I came close to tears (yes only close this time, maybe i'm toughening up? ha) on the train watching her last performance where so called fans booed off stage. All I wanted to do was give her a big cuddle and try and get into her head for a minute the poor girl. That voice, the hair, the liquid liner, the tattoos. All those amazing little things that made her such a great character, performer and person. Her music means so much to me as it does many others, heartbreaking lyrics that have a certain twist to them that make you feel that little bit stronger.

I cheated myself, like you knew I would

I told you I was trouble, you know that I'm no good

Listening to "You know I'm no good" and "In my bed" feels far too familiar for me at the moment, NOOO I haven't cheated but with so many feelings flying about at the moment I feel like I might have cheated myself out of a few opportunities these past few months. I started to wonder when the last time I was selfish, did what I wanted to do, felt how I wanted to feel about something. Although this made sense after a couple of wines on Friday night. In retrospect it can sort of be a bad idea to go spilling feelings all over the shop. These feelings were new, don't judge me! I'm sure they'll be swallowed up in working 2 jobs, a few nights out in Leeds and a couple of kisses later!

I'm not gonna meet your mother any time

I just want to grip your body over mine

Please tell me why you think that's a crime?

So to play out my Amy Winehouse almost turned Dear Diary post... I'll leave you with a few of my favourites. Get an empty house, a glass of wine and a loud speaker and pour your heart out to Amy's beautiful work.

FiftysAtHeart, back in the blogging mood but with a ridiculous scheduled life of busyness! xx