Category Archives: Snippets

A short post of a quick snippet, like a link

Bands New To Me, Snippets, Video

Three New Bands (New to me) in 2021: (1) Wet Leg

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Last year I wrote a series of posts about bands I discovered that year, they were The Mysterines, Dream Wife and The Big Moon. I quite enjoyed writing that series, so I decided to repeat this for 2021 (and if I discover three good bands again next year I’ll aim to have one in 2022 as well). The first one for this year was new to pretty much everyone, as they had their breakthrough this year: Wet Leg. They burst on the scene this summer with this song with a famous movie quote and more:

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue (Official Video)

This was followed up by another song with a video filmed at the same location and weird lyrics and references:

Wet Leg – Wet Dream (Official Video)

It doesn’t come with a full fledged video (yet?), but I also quite like this recently released song:

Oh No

And finally, they also perform brilliantly live, as shown in this Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR:

Wet Leg: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

I hope you’ve enjoyed Wet Leg, for the next band we’ll travel across the Atlantic to Chicago and something beach related (kind of). Planning to publish that post on Friday.

Snippets

Almond Rye Shortbread

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Decided to do a bit of baking today. Made some breads (Almonds & Laphroaig, Walnut) and some partially improvised shortbread. The recipe for Almond Rye Shortbread I noticed on the back of a Doves Farm Rye Flour bag (but it’s also available online). As you might notice from the picture I didn’t follow it strictly (partly out of necessity, as I didn’t have any ground almonds, only chopped almonds). Anyway, this is how my end result looks:

Picture of three pieces of Almond Rye Shortbread
Almond Rye Shortbread

Here are the ingredients I used:

  • 125g butter
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 125g Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour
  • 125g chopped almonds (the original recipe is for ground almonds)

And this is how I made it:

  • Preheat oven to 150°C (fan assisted)
  • MIx butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy
  • Mix in flour and chopped almonds
  • Gather it all together into a firm ball of dough
  • Roll dough into a cylinder shape and chill (I actually put mine into the freezer for 30-45 minutes or so)
  • Slice into round biscuit shapes
  • Place on baking rack lined with non-stick baking paper
  • Bake at 150°C (fan assisted) for about 40 minutes

Turned out very nice, taste very nice. The chopped almonds make them quite crunchy. I’ll also make them with ground almonds once I’ve been shopping and bought some ground almonds. I expect they will be a bit smoother then. Either way, I think both ways will be great, I’m happy I tried out the recipe and am sure I will make them again.

Snippets, Video

Space & Time x2

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Two versions of a song I had on heavy rotation today. First the loud and pounding studio version with the drums driving it on:

Wolf Alice – Space & Time

Second the “unplugged” version with the drummer switching to vocals and Ellie’s beautiful lead vocals:

Wolf Alice – Space & Time (Live on KEXP)

I love both versions.

Bands New To Me, Snippets, Video

Three new bands (New to me) in 2020: (3) The Big Moon

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That went quickly, the third and final entry of this short series is already here. After The Mysterines, Dream Wife we last but by no means least come to The Big Moon (Wikipedia entry) from London. Of these three bands I believe they’ve been around the longest, so I’m rather late to the party. They certainly make brilliant videos. Let’s start with one where they play every single role, Sucker:

The Big Moon – Sucker

They get rather colourful in Cupid, must have been fun making that, despite the mess:

The Big Moon – Cupid

Silent Movie Susie is a beautiful stop motion video with dolls taking on all roles. There’s also a cameo of the band, both as dolls and real people. Can you spot the previous video they are quoting?

The Big Moon – Silent Movie Susie

From their second album is Your Light. With lots of cycling. And puppets. What more could you want?

The Big Moon – Your Light

To close a cover version. I discovered The Regrettes via their appearance on The A.V. Club, interesting to see that The Big Moon also played a cover at The A.V. Club, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler from 1983:

The Big Moon serves up a stellar rendition of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”

I hope you enjoyed this little series and maybe even found a band or two you’ll like. Maybe let me know via the comments?

Bands New To Me, Snippets, Video

Three new bands (New to me) in 2020: (2) Dream Wife

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Having started this introduction of bands I discovered for me this year with The Mysterines I’m now moving on to the second band I found: Dream Wife (Wikipedia entry). Formed while at university in Brighton they have since moved to London. Let’s start with Hey Heartbreaker from their debut album:

Dream Wife – Hey Heartbreaker

Also from their debut album is Somebody (with a very memorable chorus line):

Dream Wife – Somebody

Moving on to their second album, released in 2020, with Hasta La Vista:

Dream Wife – Hasta La Vista

Another one from the second album is So When You Gonna…. with a quite interesting video:

Dream Wife – So When You Gonna…

To close a live performance mixed with an interview on KEXP:

Dream Wife – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

Again I hope you enjoyed the music, I love the variety in Rakel’s singing and Alice’s guitar play, brilliantly supported by Bella’s bass. The third and last band in this series to follow tomorrow.