Follow the others

"Go! Go away monsters. Who do you work for?"

Amelie ~ Monsters
from The Real Nature Of The Fantastic Ice Cream Car
by Amelie

I can't sit still

"It's the fun, it's the thrill of possibilities. Nine whole lives to do as I please."

Amanda Jayne ~ Nine Whole Lives
from Swoon by Amanda Jayne

Gracelin wants scars and a real tattoo

"It's the all or nothing days, they come and they stay to watch the lovers play. To watch the lovers play."

Poppy and the Jezebels ~ Gracelin
from Follow Me Down by Poppy and the Jezebels

I need another hit before I'm done

"I got one shot and the night is young, so don't wait up for me."

The Donnas ~ Don't Wait Up For Me
from Bitchin' by The Donnas

If you see my friends

"Tell them I'm doing fine. I don't want nothin'. I don't need nothin'."

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss ~ Nothin'
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss ~ Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss ~ Fortune Teller
from Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Once you get started it ain't all that hard

"Tonight she jumped some fences, but she didn't quite get free."

Cristina ~ She Can't Say That Anymore
from Sleep It Off by Cristina
complete lyrics in comments

Let me tell you about a fairy tale

"I'll make you carefree. See the magic in my eyes."

Margaret Berger ~ Silver Fairy
Margaret Berger ~ Seek I'll Hide
from Pretty Scary Silver Fairy by Margaret Berger

Another Hard Day's Night

"My independence seems to vanish in the haze."

The Beatles ~ Another Hard Day's Night
Instrumental music from the US Help! soundtrack
Help! DVD coming 29 October

Reupped! Bat For Lashes Remix

"My bat lightning heart wants to fly away."

Bat For Lashes ~ What's A Girl To Do? (Plaid Remix)
from What's A Girl To Do? by Bat For Lashes

By popular demand, I'm reposting this remix.

Files are usually up for three or four days. I know that seems like a short time, but I post a lot of individual songs that I host on my own site, so I can only have so much up at once. I host the songs myself so you can avoid file sharing services that are full of advertising, some of it quite nasty.

So I have to watch the cost of hosting, as well as link-hijacking by unscrupulous bloggers (you know, where people take the links and use them without credit on their own blog). I'm flattered, really, but it comes out of my pocketbook and I'm trying to save up for a Prada bag.

If you find a song that's been taken down and you're really sad, let me know, and if there's sufficient demand I will try to repost it.

xoxo, ashley

How often she has gazed from castle windows

"Her days of precious freedom, forfeited long before. To live such fruitless years behind a guarded door. But those days will last no more."

I once listened to the original Fairport Convention version of this Sandy Denny song on endless repeat for an entire weekend. I know that sounds like the typical thing for a sad little goth girl to do at the weekend - right up there with haunting the market stalls for rare Nick Cave dolls. Well, a girl can't spend all of her time fucking in Highgate Cemetery after hours. Believe me, I've tried. I never encountered the Highgate Vampire, which is lucky for him because I would be revved up and ready to stake him good and proper. Nothing tops off an evening of moaning in the moonlight like some serious slayage.

Well, whatever. Music is good too, right? My Fotheringay weekend was mad crazy magic where I viddied the transformative power of music for the first time. So here is my potion of four versions of this song as I stand near the window where the light is strong, hoping I put a spell on you.

Fairport Convention ~ Fotheringay
from What We Did On Our Holidays

Fairport Convention ~ Fotheringay BBC #1
Fairport Convention ~ Fotheringay BBC #2
from Live at the BBC [Box Set]

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra ~ Fotheringay
from Melody Mountain by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra
complete lyrics in comments

You tell me I'm wrong when I'm just being strong

"I almost forgot all the things that I'm not. The list is so very long."

The Weekend ~ Fleetwood
from The Weekend (Pink Album) by The Weekend
complete lyrics in comments

I've got it all figured out

"I want him to want her and stop wanting me. They could be lovers and just let me be. Ice cream is nice, monsters are not."

Hafdis Huld ~ Ice Cream Is Nice
from Dirty Paper Cup by Hafdis Huld
complete lyrics here

I promise to keep silent too

"We live for the greater. We live for the good. At least that's what I thought she understood."

Emma Pollock ~ If Silence Means That Much To You
Emma Pollock ~ New Land
from Watch The Fireworks by Emma Pollock

Pop In, Pop Out!

Now you can listen to this blog without leaving the page.
I know, right? About bloody time!

Just click on the little blue arrow to start the song and then the red square to stop it. The artist and title link still functions for playing and downloading. I've checked all the current songs and everything plays fine, but please let me know if you have any trouble.

Plastiscines ~ Alchimie
Plastiscines ~ No Way
Plastiscines ~ Pop In, Pop Out!
from LP1 by Plastiscines

Cover me with the endless night

"Take my hand and let me sleep. In the coolness of your shadow. In the silence of your deep."

Ann Wilson ~ Darkness Darkness featuring Nancy Wilson
from Hope & Glory by Ann Wilson
complete lyrics in comments

ZouZou ~ The Return of French Music Monday

French Music Monday returns with the first installment of L'integrale by ZouZou. This 21 track CD was issued by BMG/Vogue (France) in 2003. I'll post four songs from this collection every Monday for the next few weeks.

ZouZou ~ Il est parti comme il etait venu
(Benjamin/Jacques Dutronc)
ZouZou ~ Je vais reve
ZouZou ~ Ne cherche pas
ZouZou ~ Puisque tu es revenu
(Danielle Ciarlet/Jacque Dutronc)

Forget about the golden rule

"The devil's dick is hard to handle. Step into the scandal school."

Deborah Harry ~ School For Scandal
from Necessary Evil by Deborah Harry

It's been a while but I couldn't forget you

"You look even better than you did before."

Nelly Furtado ~ Do It featuring Missy Elliot
from Do It single by Nelly Furtado
featuring Missy Elliot
complete lyrics in comments

It's Saturday night

"It feels like a Sunday in some ways. You are a young girl, working your way through the phonies."

ZouZou ~ Ce samedi soir
from L'integrale by ZouZou

Donovan ~ Young Girl Blues
from Mellow Yellow by Donovan

Donovan ~ Young Girl Blues (live)
from Donovan In Concert: The Complete 1967 Show
complete lyrics in comments

If you love somebody enough

"You'll go where your heart wants to go. That's how I got to Memphis. That's how I got to Memphis."

Rosanne Cash ~ That's How I Got To Memphis
from Somewhere in the Stars by Rosanne Cash
complete lyrics in comments

Rosanne Cash ~ September When It Comes
from Rules of Travel by Rosanne Cash
complete lyrics in comments
Johnny Cash sings on both songs

It don't take a trick of the light to excite me

"The world will turn if you're ready or not."

KT Tunstall ~ Hold On
KT Tunstall ~ Little Favours
from Drastic Fantastic by KT Tunstall

Go Team! Go Team! Do It! Do It!

"You show that attitude. You know what I'm talking about."

The Go! Team ~ Doing it Right
The Go! Team ~ Doing it Right (Yo Majesty Remix)
The Go! Team ~ A Version of Myself
The Go! Team ~ Bull in the Heather

original from Proof of Youth by The Go! Team
B-sides from Doing it Right single

Wake up in a small cafe

"Have you got the nerve to give it up at the beginning? Does it hurt you?"

Nellie McKay ~ Gin Rummy
Nellie McKay ~ Politan
from Obligatory Villagers by Nellie McKay

Cool water washing over me

"Wash away clues of fingerprints. Footsteps on the ocean bed. Wash away. There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand. Walk away."

Siouxsie ~ Sea Of Tranquility
Siouxsie ~ About To Happen
from Mantaray by Siouxsie

Let's get unconscious honey

"Words are useless, especially sentences. They don't stand for anything. How could they explain how I feel? All that you've ever learned - try to forget. I'll never explain again."

Madonna ~ Bedtime Story (Orbital Mix)
from Bedtime Story single by Madonna
complete lyrics in comments

My giant hands

"What I picture when I close my eyes is a giant hand high up in the sky."

You Say Party! We Say Die! ~ Giant Hands
from Lose All Time by You Say Party! We Say Die!

White chalk playing as a child with you

"Scratch my palms and there's blood on my hands."

PJ Harvey ~ White Chalk
PJ Harvey ~ Silence
PJ Harvey ~ Dear Darkness

from White Chalk by PJ Harvey

Ladies shouldn’t drive nice cars

"Here in my Mercedes wondering what could be wrong with the engine or my transmission. Keys won't turn on. What the fuck?"

Linda Thompson ~ Nice Cars
from Versatile Heart by Linda Thompson
complete lyrics in comments

This could be the end of the world

"While the world stood still around us, we drove dreaming, lost and found again."

Le Loup ~ Outside This Car, The End Of The World!

Le Loup song removed by request of the label, Hardly Art.

Keep your dirty feelings deep inside

I'm resting comfortably in St James Infirmary. Dr Moz says I should heal without any scars, but he won't stop looking up my skirt. The rehabilitation regime is target practice with celibate rifles. If I stand on tiptoes, I can look through the bars and watch the young people on the High St, advancing all electric like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love Me Avenue. Any day now . . .

Pylon ~ Crazy
from Hits by Pylon

Kittie ~ Run Like Hell
from Oracle by Kittie
lyrics in comments

Will you take off your dress and send it to me?

"Sitting here wishing on a cement floor. Just wishing that I had just something you wore."

The Pixies ~ Cactus
from Surfer Rosa by The Pixies

David Bowie ~ Cactus
from Heathen by David Bowie
complete lyrics in comments

You need a flame before you fizzle out

"Then tell me what I’m supposed to do when the leaves start falling, and I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through."

Lucky Soul ~ One Kiss Don't Make A Summer (Radio Edit)
from The Great Unwanted by Lucky Soul
complete lyrics in comments

My bat lightning heart wants to fly away

UPDATE, 12 September: This song has been reposted for a limited time. Click here.

Bat For Lashes ~ What's A Girl To Do? (Plaid remix)
from What's A Girl To Do? by Bat For Lashes

After the girls of summer have gone

Hi! Nice to see you again.

I've been sick and I can't paint while I recover, so I'm reposting the blog archive, including all the silly, random, screwed-up posts. I know, right? There are several hundred entries, so this project will take some time. I'm starting with the most recent posts and working back. I will also re-up the music links when I can. If there is something you missed just let me know and I'll see if I still have it.

I'll also be posting some new stuff, like this recent Múm B side or whatever these things are called now.

Mum ~ The Amateur Show
from They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded single
by Múm