Laura Veirs

19/02/08

1. The Postal Service - Recycled Air
2. The Elected - Go On
3. Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes
4. Beirut - Postcards From Italy
5. Grizzly Bear - Alligator
6. Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel the Illinoise!
7. Teenagers - Love No
8. Stereo Total - Plotzlich Ist Alles Anders
9. Miss Kittin - Love Is Stronger Than Pride
10. Ladytron - Blue Jeans
11. Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
12. Julie Ruin - Stay Monkey
13. Patrick Wolf - The Libertine
14. Vampire Weekend - M79
15. The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
16. The Shins - Celibate Life
17. Camera Obscura - Roman Holiday
18. Tom Vek - Nothing But Green Lights
19. White Lies - Unfinished Business
20. Laura Veirs - Pink Light
21. Ani Difranco - Parameters
22. Howls Moving Castle OST - Theme
23. Band Of Horses - Is There A Ghost?
24. Stars - What the Snowman Learnt About Love
25. Frou Frou - Let Go
26. Bat For Lashes - Horse and I
27. Marissa Nadler - Stallions
28. Nick Drake - Day Is Done

Xtra Files

Laura Veirs - Fact File

Born-1973

Hometown - Colarado, USA

Genre - Folk/Indie

Peak Period of Music -Current

Interesting Fact - Originally wrote feminist punk rock. Makes her own clothes!

Big Hit - Icebound Stream

Influenced By - Folk, Country, Classical and Pop

Album to Buy - Salt Breakers

Where Are They Now - Her seventh album, July Flame, is due out in 2009

Recommended if you like - My Brightest Diamond, Mirah

Azure Ray

Valentines Playlist 

12/02/08

1. Feist - Secret Heart
2. Cat Power - Good Woman
3. Azure Ray - Hold On Love
4. Joseph Arthur - In The Sun
5. Cycle Awake - The Satsuma Princess
6. Life Without Buildings - The Leanover
7. The Delgados - Woke From Dreaming
8. Elliott Smith - Coast to Coast
9. Regina Spektor - Ode to Divorce
10. Antony and the Johnsons - Bird Gerhl
11. CocoRosie - Beautiful Boyz
12. Sufjan Stevens - Dress Looks Nice On You
13. The Brunettes - Loopy Loopy Love
14. The Detroit Cobras - Bye Bye Baby
15. Kate Bush - Sat In Your Lap
16. Blondie - Rip Her To Shreds
17. Metric - Hustle Rose
18. Tilly and the Wall - Perfect Fit
19. I'm From Barcelona - Chicken Pox
20. Sleater Kinney - The Fox
21. Tiger Army - Cupid's Victim
22. The Go!Team - Grip Like A Vice
23. Kelly Clarkson - Since Uve Been Gone
24. The Susans - The Girls
25. Chicks on Speed - Culture Vulture
26. Julie Ruin - Breakout A Town
27. Vampire Weekend - M79
28. Her Space Holiday - Tech Romance
29. Rilo Kiley - Science Vs Romance

Xtra Files

Azure Ray - Fact File

Band Members - Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink

Hometown - Alabama, USA

Genre - Folk

Peak Period of Music -90s

Interesting Fact - Also in the band Now Its Overhead and collaborated with Moby

Big Hit - November

Influenced By - Veruca Salt

Album to Buy - Hold On Love

Where Are They Now - Though they disbanded in 2004, they are both still active through solo careers and Now Its Overhead

Recommended if you like - Bright Eyes, Now Its Overhead, Moby, Maria Taylor, Orenda Fink, Rilo Kiley, Tilly and the Wall

Vashti Bunyan

"Hodge: Can i see some identification?

 Mulder: What for?

 Hodge: I just want to make sure we are who we say we are. That's me.

 Murphy: That's you. It's me.

 Hodge: It's you.

 Mulder: It's me!"

Hello! How are you all? (Don't respond to that, i can't hear you.)

Here's the playlist for last weeks show (15/01/08) :

1. Beirut - Bratislava
2. P:ano - The Snow
3. Marissa Nadler - Stallions
4. Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost?
5. The Shins - Sea Legs
6. Bjork - Domestica
7. Coco Rosie - West Side
8. Bat For Lashes - Horse + I
9. Vashti Bunyan - Winter Is Blue * X-file of the week
10. The Rachel's - Honeysuckle Suite
11. Animal Collective - Winter Wonderland
12. I Am Robot And Proud - Winter At Night
13. Camera Obscura - Country Mile
14. Vashti Bunyan - If In Winter
15. Iron & Wine - Faded From The Winter
16. Cat Power - Werewolf
17. The Innocence Mission - Lakes of Canada
18. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy Jr.
19. Francoise Hardy - Il N'y A Pas D'amour Heureux
20. Rachmaninoff - Prelude in G Sharp Minor
21. Charles Trenet - La Mer
22. Sarah Slean - Eliot
23. Biirdie - Petals
24. Carissa's Weird - The Piano Song
25. Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C Sharp Minor
26. Judy Collins - Albatross
27. Josh Rouse - Winter In The Hamptons
28. Vashti Bunyan - Coldest Night Of The Year
29. Adam Green - Watching Old Movies
30. Vashti Bunyan - Girl's Song In Winter
31. Jens Lekman - The Cold Swedish Winter

Xtra Files

Vashti Bunyan - Fact File

Born - 1945

Hometown - England

Genre - Folk

Peak Period of Music - mild success in 60s, major success now

Interesting Fact - Devendra Banhart wrote her a letter in 2001 asking her for advice

Big Hit - Just Another Diamond Day

Influenced By - Bob Dylan

Album to Buy - Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind - Singles and Demos 1964-1967

Where Are They Now - Has been working on a new album since January 2008

Recommended if you like - Joanna Newsom, Marissa Nadler, Devendra Banhart, Bob Dylan, Vetiver

Laura Marling

Scully: So what is our profile of the killer? "Indeterminate height, weight, sex; unarmed, but extremely attractive"?

Hello chickpeas! Here is the playlist for Tuesday 08/01/08, the first show of term:

1. The Shins - Sleeping Lessons
2. Beirut - Postcards From Italy
3. Klaus Nomi - Wasting My Time
4. Kate Bush - Babooshka
5. Bjork - Domestica
6. Vanilla - No Way No Way
7. The Suzans - The Girls
8. Max Tundra - Lysine
9. Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
10. Lucia Pamela - Flip Flop Fly
11. Stereo Total - Plotzlich Ist Alles Anders
12. Animal Collective - Fireworks
13. Erase Errata - California Viewing
14. Liars - Lets Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack
15. Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
16. Annuals - Carry Around
17. White Lies - Unfinished Business
18. Band Of Horses - No Ones Gonna Love You
19. Okkervil River - Unless It Kicks
20. The Faint - Worked Up So Sexual
21. Jackson + His Computer Band - Rock On
22. I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
23. The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
24. CocoRosie - Tekno Love Song
25. Laura Marling - Ghosts * X-file of the Week!
26. Francoise Hardy - Voila
27. Iron + Wine - Carried Home
28. Amelie OST - Sur Le Fil
29. The Mouldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You

Xtra X-Files

Laura Marling - Fact File

Born - 1990

Hometown - England

Genre - Folk

Peak Period of Music - Now!

Interesting Fact - Performed on Noah and the Whales album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

Big Hit - My Manic and I

Influenced By - Joni Mitchell

Album to Buy - Alas I Cannot Swim

Where Are They Now - In the studio recording her second album

Recommended if you like - Noah and the Whale, Florence and the Machine, Regina Spektor, Mystery Jets

Film

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Nominated for 3 Oscars (best director, picture, and cinematography), this charming comedy sees Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) tell his life story...to the devil in a bid to secure himself a place in....hell. Yup. Crazy man right?!! Not quite. The film documents his life through the events that take place on his birthdays, which apparently are very lively. On his 15th birthday he gets drunk and parties through the night with his naughty French teacher. On his 36th birthday he steals his cousin Albert's bride-to-be Martha and elopes with her in secret. On his 50th birthday he steals Martha from her parents home in a desperate attempt to save their frivolous marriage. I won't say much more about the plot, except that if there was ever a man worth making a film about, it's cheeky Henry Van Cleve.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Another Oscar-loved picture, winning Hilary Swank Best Actress and nominating Chloe Sevigny as Best Supporting, this film tells the dark story of Teena Brandon, or Brandon Teena - a teenage girl who wants to be a teenage boy. Of course things are never as simple as that and when Brandon's neighbours find out, she is cruelly persecuted, humiliated, brutally gang raped, and later murdered. Based on a true story, this moving film really makes you think about societies attitudes towards sexuality. Definitely one to watch, but maybe not with your mum and dad...

Theatre

X-Files Improv, Trafalgar Studios

Starring Dean Haglund of X-files and Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame, this one-man comedy show consisted of a series of improvisations that followed the signature episode style of hit tv-show X-Files. Though entertaining, it's name was deceiving, there being little reference to the X-Files other than the geeky efforts of the audience* to redirect the show onto a Mulder and Scully track. Nevertheless, it was a brilliant show, highlights being the creaky door sound effects of Leon the IT man from Canary Wharf, and the final battle scene between Langley (Dean Haglund) and the Giraffe-Badger-Monkey. The really great thing about this show was that its progression was entirely dependent on audience participation, and there is no doubt that the show will have been different every night. I think all the London dates are finished now but if you do get a chance to go, take it!

*mostly me and my friends

Special Places

Ben's Cookies

Situated outside South Kensington station, this really is the best cookie shop in the whole wide world. Their freshly made cookies are crunchy on the outside, but chewy and cakey on the inside. My favourite is the White Chocolate Cookie because the white chocolate is melted mm mm mmm. Make sure you grab a cookie on your way to the museums!

X-files Episode of the Week

Gender Bender (Season 1 Episode 13) - The episode starts in a typical manner - there have been some unexplained murders and Mulder and Scully are set on the case to solve the mystery and such and such. Kinda like the Scooby Gang but without Scooby and the Shaggy one. All the victims have abnormally high amounts of pheromones in their bodies, and have died following a sexual encounter. The main mystery lies in the sex of the killer - video tapes show a woman entering the room where the murder takes place, but a man is shown leaving. This leads Scully to believe the murderer is a transvestite, and Mulder to believe they are looking for a super sex machine with the ability to change sex. As always, Mulder and his wacky theories are right. Turns out the killer used to belong to a cult called the Kindred live, who have found the key to immortality....through sex changes....I'll let you find out the rest :]

So that's it for this week! Come back next week for more X-files! 

Shadi-Sade Sarreshtehdarzadeh, Shadi's X-Files

Pilot

SCOTT BLEVINS: Are you familiar with the so-called "X-Files?"

SCULLY: I believe they have to do with unexplained phenomena.

Indeed they do! This is basically how it goes: i like music. music is nice. i like to share nice things. sharing music is illegal. but playing music to people isn't. So i've got a radio show...

Every Tuesday from 6-8 i'm on Royal Holloway's student radio station Insanity Radio 1287am. You can either tune in by dialling that frequency or you can go on www.insanityradio.com and listen online. 

I play a mixture of different genres but mainly indie, folk, acoustic, electro and pop. So basically everything. The main theme holding them all together is that i play what i have classified as 'x-files'. 

What is an x-file? Well i suppose the first words that come to mind are unknown, unclassified, odd, and rare. An x-file can be new music, unknown music, underground music, lost music, odd music, or quite literally, x-files [tv show] related music. Here are some examples of 'x-files': 

1) Spice Girls - Lady is a Vamp. X-file because...it's an odd track in comparison to others on their albums. 40s style in contrast to the 90s girl band pop

2) Catatonia - Mulder and Scully. X-file because...it's about the x-files!

3) Marissa Nadler - Stallions. X-file because...she has been around for forever but is a pretty unknown artist.

4) Animal Collective - Did You See The Words. X-file because...they are well known in the underground scene but haven't quite hit the mainstream.

5) Adele - Daydreamer. X-file because...she is a phenomenal new artist.

6) Kelly Blechdom - Torture Chamber. X-file because...she is odd and brilliant. Perhaps even a little crazy, but brilliant. 

7) Charles Trenet - La Mer. X-file because...though his music may be lost on our generation, it shouldn't be and i am determined to keep the classics alive. 

So that's the kind of music that would typically be played on the show. But the x-files don't end there, oh no, no way, nuh-huh. Nope. May i introduce - blogspot. Every week i will update this blog with the playlist from the show so you can check out the bands you liked. But i will also update it with other x-files: films, books, art, exhibitions, restaurants, parks, countries, nooks and crannies, and other such treasures. Any worldly secret that i encounter, i will share with you here. Typically you can expect gig, film [old and new] and theatre reviews but i will throw in special places and seasonal delights too. 

And i'll throw in some x-files quotes too for good measure. And maybe some of my favourite episodes here and there too. Cos, you know, x-files...well...it's amazing. Really. If you haven't sat down and watched it properly yet, i would advise you to do so. Your life changes. Well, not quite. But it sure does tickle yer insides for a bit. 

So i think that just about sums up Shadi's X-files. All you have to do now is tune in and let the music take you to other worlds....

ahahahaa how cheesy! Bye folks!

Over and out, 

Shadi-Sade Sarreshtehdarzadeh, Shadi's X-files