Any excuse for a party: Fridays are mint, even the last one before pay day in a January with about 8 weeks in it

A bouncy little number this week care of Huey Morgan in for Lauren Laverne this week, got a lot of Huey love in this house…

xoxo

I love her explanation of “the companies are trying to trick little girls!” and just HOW p*ssed off she is about the whole thing.

Right on sista!

xoxo

These socks are amazing. And they do them as a yellow piggy as well.

You can get them from Olga de Polga and make your feet exciting.

xox

It’s the inevitable January bunfight to predict who will be massive and claim, “it was me! I said it all along!! I saw them in a dirty club about 2 years ago and knew then! YES! I AM cool!”

The precarious BBC Sound of 2012 announced it’s Top 5 this week, with the usual mix of boy, girl, band, someone “urban” and has resulted in the little known singer songwriter Michael Kiwanuka being championed as the one to GO BIG in 2012. Emeli (real name, Emily, well actually Adele) Sande has been named the Brits 2012 Critic’s Choice Winner and the blogs are awash with “they’ll be huge, just you wait, you heard it here first!”

Now I’m no Mystic Meg, you know me, I like what I like and that’s that. And I like this.

Azelia Banks was number three in the BBC Sound of 2012, was number one on the NME Cool List and can now have the coveted title of “Miss P says she likes this”

There’s already a whole load of chat about this 20 year old Harlem MC (even that was borrowed from The Guardian) and shamelessly I am going to jump on the bandwagon, not because I think she’s going to be massive, just because I think this track is awesome.

A huge thank you to 6Music coverer and all round generally brilliant bloke @jonhillcock for bringing her to my attention before anyone else. He’s good like that and you can get his mega podcast, New Noise, here.

xoxo

What’s that? You didn’t hear it?!! Well we can’t have that now can we?

Hear Sarah Powell bringing you Xfm joy HERE

Over the course of the show I asked who you were most looking forward to seeing/ hearing/ going after in 2012. Lana Del Ray, Gotye, The Stone Roses gigs, Foals, Niki and the Dove as well as Tribes, We Are Augustines were all giving you your zip back after too much Quality Street and gin over Christmas.

However there was one band who made smoke come out of the text machine as even it got overexcited about the forthcoming new album. The Maccabees have gained a special place in my heart, not least because I lived in Brighton for 3 years where you’d regularly bump into them having a dry cider in The Mash Tun and be reminded what thoroughly nice chaps they are.

Their music has always been massively underrated so it’s good to see so many listeners getting excited. “Given to the Wild” is out on Monday (9th) so get your little mitts of it to keep you warm til Febuary.

xoxo

In no particular order…

Nero- Me and You

DJ Fresh- Louder (was a tough call and almost led to a fallout with @joelbabyherc about whether it should be this or Gold Dust but it’s MY TOP 16)

Keren Ann- My Name is Trouble (thanks to Shaun Keaveny for playing this for me, and the nation)

Beastie Boys, Santigold- Don’t Play No Game That I can’t Win

The Rapture- Come Back to Me

Little Dragon- Ritual Union

Metronomy- The Bay (so many tracks on this album could have made it)

Beyonce- Run the World (who? GIRLS)

Friendly Fires- Live Those Days Tonight (Album of the Year FACT!)

The Horrors- Still Life (Suprise “Like” of the Year, wicked set at Field Day, still got the hair)

Florence + The Machine- No Light No Light OR Breaking Down (you’ll have to decide)

Cocknbullkid- Asthma Attack

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- The Death of You and Me (I would have had If I Had a Gun but it’s the new single released this year, bugger. Still he can be happy with Gig of the Year at The Roundhouse)

The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (still not getting bored of it after the 84th play)

Lady Gaga- Born This Way (best track she’s ever done)

Rihanna- Cheers (Drink to the Weekend)

ANY EXCUSE FOR A PARTY: New Haircut care of Fran at Vision Hair in The Old Truman Brewery (she’s wicked, good tattoos as well) Take Me Out.

xoxox

Tonight after swooning along to Patrick Wolf at The Roundhouse XOYO are hosting the Tummy Touch 15th Birthday party with Swimming, Tom Vek DJ-ing and The Phenomenal Handclap Band (there’s still tickets go go go go go!!)

ANY EXCUSE FOR A D*SCO: It’s Alex’s 30th!! WOOP WOOP

xoxoxo

xox

According to heatworld.com “The album will feature songs written about Amy’s marriage break-down and has been produced by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson.”

Mitch Winehouse told The Sun, “One of the new songs on the album, Halftime, I’d never heard before. It is just incredibly beautiful. Had the family felt this album wasn’t up to the standard of Amy’s others, Frank and Back To Black, we’d never have agreed to release it. We believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to her musical legacy.”

As part of his Symphony gig, George Michael covered “Love is a Losing Game” and it reminded me again how much I miss her. It seems it would be a tragic waste for these songs to go unheard and unloved by not releasing them.

Gorgeous sleeve as well…

xoxoxo