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Lilly Allen

 
  

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Jub
13:07 / 20.12.06
I've just remembered what it is. The new song has the same backing track as Mono's "Life in Mono".
 
 
Hydra vs Leviathan
13:15 / 20.12.06
Can anyone please tell me what Lilly's latest single: "Littlest Things" sounds like. I swear to god the melody is lifted straight form another source. Sounds like Cocteau Twins or similar.

Cat Stevens - Wild World (possibly via Jimmy Cliff). If it's the song i'm thinking of (the one currently playing in every Virgin and HMv store that sounds like it's by Lily Allen, ie sounds like a female Mike Skinner but reggae-lite instead of hip-hop/garage-lite)
 
 
The Black Sheep Girl
07:59 / 10.01.07
Lilly Allen said in an interview for Uncut that she believes to be 'the new Bob Dylan'. Oh no, sorry. It was a statement: 'I am the new Bob Dylan'. You must be pretty full of yourself to make such a statement especially if it bears absolutely no relation to reality. She should get a big fucking smack on the head, stupid girl, for saying that. It really pissed me off.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
08:41 / 10.01.07
Yes. Or she may have said that specifically to irritate and upset people like you. In which case she should be given cake.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
09:45 / 10.01.07
Soapcake, surely? After 'Dad' had weaved his magic on it, post a night at the Groucho?
 
 
All Acting Regiment
12:24 / 10.01.07
Yeah, I think it's funny that she claimed to be the new Bob Dylan. It's an example of making a funny statement that pisses people off whilst also being quite happy to bounce the joke off yourself. I also don't think she meant it seriously, like that prick out of Razorlight- or, rather, she doesn't actually cuddle up to a Dylan-shaped ego teddy at night and suckle at it's teat for sweet, sweet, rockist milk, saying "I want to be, man, I want to be". Like I said upthread, if she's willing to do quite funny things like this as well as saying quite stupid things about Kylie I've got more time for her.

And actually, I think there are a lot of paralels to be drawn between the two singers. Both are aimed at a young audience (well, Dylan was, once), both are white, both are "urban" in theme/image, both are from a reasonably comfortable background, and both are appropriating some form of music originating from a less moneyed, more black tradition- reggae and beats for Lallen and blues for Dylan.

Likewise, if you listen to the lyrics on Blonde on Blonde a lot of them are quite obviously based around convenient, arbitrary rhymes with the intervening meter filled in to make it coherent. I think the same could be said for a lot of the stuff on Alright, still. I'm not knocking this kind of songwriting- it's often quite good.

And, yeah, let's not hit women on the head for claiming to be like our father-substitutes, okay? Especially when the figure in question is incredibly well-respected, almost untouchable, and is at the last analysis an often boring prat so blindly idolised that he can sing "She's fake like a woman...She'll break like a girl" and still be held up by dim-witted white critics as an example of peace and love-ness against that dirty hip-hop with all it's misogyny etc.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
13:08 / 10.01.07
Oh, and for what it's worth I beleive this is from Lily's blog:


Wrong end of the Glowstick . NME rant
Current mood: aggravated

I probably shouldn't be writing this , but I have to get it off my chest . I am not a big fan of the NME , as they sold me down the river when I last talked to them , I did and interview and made a sarcastic joke using the word "gak" which is slang for cocaine . They glorified my joke and used it out of context , then their public relations dept , contacted the tabloids in a shameful attempt to sell more copies . And , I have ever since been known as " Lily Allen , Pint sized potty mouth popstar who once admitted she would celebrate her no 1 single by taking cocaine ! " .
Thanks NME . Now , I have read many articles in the NME , where male band members freely admit to, or associate themselves with the taking of drugs , and I havent seen many of them ending up in the tabloids . Take Klaxons for example, and the ongoing MDMA references. " MDMAZING " I believe was the title of a recent article ( how responsible! ) .
The only reason I can think of , for recieving such a different form of treatment , is because I am a woman . I did recieve a written apology from Conor Mcnicholas ( the editor) . But i vowed never to work with the NME agian . As I thought, if there was one publication I could trust and be frank with , it would be the theirs .

Anyway , I was aproached by them again , with regards to the "Cool List Issue 2006" , five women had made it into the top 10 and , subsequently we (the women) were asked to pose for photos to be the main feature for the cover . As I said before , I vowed not to work with them again , but as the context was so important ie; a a strong female presence in music . I thought i might aswell put aside my differences and do it . Now i don't care for " the cool list " , and I said this to them in the interview , which is probably why they didn't print it . I don't really think the NME are in any position to tell us who is cool and who isn't , personally I don't think a bunch of people sitting in an office drinking tea , inventing musical genres , and watching Nathan Barley DVD's are leading any kind of cool brigade , do you ?
But i did find it interesting that they wanted to put five women on the cover , and wanted to name 2006 , our year .

I went to get a copy yesterday , and this is what we ( the women ) got . Another fuckin MUSE cover . I like Muse , infact , Black Holes and Revelations , is one of my favourite albums of this year . But the NME have covered them so much this year already .

Now usually you might expect a call , just out of courtousy telling us we had been pulled off the cover , but we recieved nothing .

This is Conors ( the editors) comments on this issue , He has obviusly put out some press release , stating how supportive the NME is to women in music

Conor McNicholas, the editor of NME, said he was pleased that the Cool List was full of women who had brought "new energy" to the music world.

"This year's Cool List is a testament to the raft of hugely talented women who have taken hold of the music scene in 2006," he said. "From Beth to Lily to Karen, they've brought new energy to a scene dominated by men. They're also living proof that you can still rock a crowd when you're wearing stilettos."

I mean how fucking patronising " you can still rock a crowd wearing stilletos "
Is that all we are , stilleto wearing people , is that all he could say ,that we brought a " new energy" to the music scene . Don't make me sick , wev'e always been here you arrogant prick , this was your chance to actually show you meant it . And instead you put Muse on the cover . Cause you thought that your readers might not buy a magazine with an overweight lesbian and a not particularly attractive looking me , on the front . Wankers .

You should take your heads out of you New Rave arses , and actually think about your responsibilities to youth culture , and to women in general .

Oh and by the way , theres not enough RAVE in New Rave .
 
 
Alex's Grandma
17:18 / 10.01.07
And actually, I think there are a lot of paralels to be drawn between the two singers. Both are aimed at a young audience (well, Dylan was, once), both are white, both are "urban" in theme/image, both are from a reasonably comfortable background, and both are appropriating some form of music originating from a less moneyed, more black tradition- reggae and beats for Lallen and blues for Dylan.

Indeed. Bob Dylan, Lilly Allen, Mark Knopfler, Boy George, Sting out of The Police, Annie Lennox and UB40 all have that much in common. Well done for pointing it out! Some might argue that the elephant in the living room here is the question of whether the music involved's actually any 'good', but then who's to decide, and how would you go about 'proving' it either way? And is Agatha Christie a less important novelist than Franz Kafka? No, she isn't - they both wrote about cramped conditions in class-ridden societies in their own funny ways, and seeing as Christie actually sold more books than that weird-looking creep, it seems pretty clear that she's the superior artist. And that to suggest otherwise would mean that I, age 75, and sitting up here in the Twilight Home For The Terminally Bewildered, lining up the ordnance, and planning some sort of small, quiet killing spree to bring in the New Year was some sort of elitist snob. But it's not so! When I'm eventually shot down like a dog by the local authorities, it'll be Lilly Allen's music that's playing on my i-pod, and not that boring old hippie's! Because in death, as in life, I just want to be, you know, cutting edge.
 
 
The Black Sheep Girl
09:42 / 11.01.07
Or she may have said that specifically to irritate and upset people like you.

People like me, meaning?

Yeah, I think it's funny that she claimed to be the new Bob Dylan.

Maybe it's just my weird sense of humour but I didn't find this statement particularly amusing. What's the point of making such a statement if one doesn't mean in at all? To tease people like me, probably. Well, fair enough.

Sorry, it didn't really piss me off, I overreacted as I sometimes do. I'm just saying that to issue such a statement at the very dawn of one's musical career and without one's reputation as an artist being established is quite an arrogant thing to do.

I am not criticising her music, I don't have much time for it personally, not really my kind of thing but I'm not trying to insult it just because I don't like it. What has she done though to deserve, in her own eyes, a comparison to Bob bloody Dylan? Having heard her songs, somehow I cannot predict a career for her, leading to the status of a Legend.

To say that they are both white, "urban" and addressing their music to young people is not really enough to say that they've got a lot in common. Using these criteria you could really compare anyone to anyone as there are shitloads of young (or not necessarily), "urban", youth-oriented artists from comfortable backgrouds and utilising rhythm.
Artistacally though, I dare say, they are not quite the same level.

A bit of a strong, arrogant statement (whatever reason she said it for), which I found irritating. That's all I really wanted to say.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
10:07 / 11.01.07
People like me, meaning?

Meaning people who will take absolutely seriously and at face value the idea that she actually believes herself to be the new Bob Dylan, and thus condemn her for her hubris, especially by drawing attention to the fact that she is a girl and suggesting she should be slapped.

Essentially, Lily Allen appears to be displaying a sense of irony and self-awareness here that others would do well to learn from. It's just a shame she couldn't do it instead of rather than as well as singing.
 
 
The Black Sheep Girl
12:11 / 11.01.07
Sorry, I must have put it in a wrong way. I wouldn't care whether it was said by a male or a female, that wasn't my point. I didn't mean to suggest that she should be slapped 'cause she's a girl but merely for making an arrogant statement.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
12:56 / 11.01.07
I think my point is, although at this point I barely know anymore, being 80 years old and having a bit of trouble with mind and waterworks alike, that I doubt that she was being arrogant, because I doubt that she was sincerely representing herself as the new Bob Dylan. Therefore any slap would be a slap delivered under a false understanding of the situation.
 
 
Quantum
14:23 / 11.01.07
Their names do both end in -lan and have some ys and ls in. Oh wait, AllEn, my bad, in fact they're nothing alike at all.
Which is obvious.
Even to her.
 
 
Quantum
14:33 / 11.01.07
But she *is* arrogant, which I really like. I suppose you could argue that Bob and Lily both have poor singing voices but write appealing songs, dabbled in acting, have dark hair and two eyes, erm, and, erm... noses.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
15:22 / 11.01.07
I liked her anti-NME rant. I think I'd probably like her if I met her.

I don't think I'd like Peaches Geldof though.

I definitely don't think I'd like her Dad.

Or Lily Allen's Dad.

Oh dear. I'm all confused.
 
 
Milky Joe
17:44 / 14.01.07
I just don't buy into the Lilly Allen thing. Her music is very average and if she wasn't her fathers daughter we would not be having this debate.

As for Pete I have known enough smackheads to know to take everything said with less than a grain of salt. However, I wish him look in getting clean and wish the tabloids would give him a break.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
07:46 / 15.01.07
Indeed. Bob Dylan, Lilly Allen, Mark Knopfler, Boy George, Sting out of The Police, Annie Lennox and UB40 all have that much in common. Well done for pointing it out! Some might argue that the elephant in the living room here is the question of whether the music involved's actually any 'good', but then who's to decide, and how would you go about 'proving' it either way? And is Agatha Christie a less important novelist than Franz Kafka? No, she isn't - they both wrote about cramped conditions in class-ridden societies in their own funny ways, and seeing as Christie actually sold more books than that weird-looking creep, it seems pretty clear that she's the superior artist. And that to suggest otherwise would mean that I, age 75, and sitting up here in the Twilight Home For The Terminally Bewildered, lining up the ordnance, and planning some sort of small, quiet killing spree to bring in the New Year was some sort of elitist snob. But it's not so! When I'm eventually shot down like a dog by the local authorities, it'll be Lilly Allen's music that's playing on my i-pod, and not that boring old hippie's! Because in death, as in life, I just want to be, you know, cutting edge.

Well, I didn't actually say teh Lallen was better than Bob Dylan, did I? Or that you were elitist for liking the man's stuff. I just pointed out some simialrities, ffs, which often tend to get conveneiently overlooked when people start on the differences between today's evil manufactured pop musics and that good music from the good old days. Obviously there's more good things in Dylan's name than there are- perhaps ever will be- in Allen's.

That and what Haus said.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
07:47 / 15.01.07
I just don't buy into the Lilly Allen thing.


I do- with soul pennies.
 
 
--
23:24 / 18.01.07
I'm kind of glad to see that a lot of the bands/musicians/singers overseas are just as annoying as the ones we have over here in America.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
00:03 / 19.01.07
I doubt that she was sincerely representing herself as the new Bob Dylan.

Well I don't know - she does do quite a lot of gak, I gather.

As, I suppose, does Johnny from Razorlight, who's also on record as being the new Bob Dylan.

And I don't suppose anyone's going to give poor old Johnny the benefit of the doubt, are they?!!
 
 
Corey Waits
01:12 / 19.01.07
I get to see Lily Allen in two days time at Big Day Out... I'm practically having kittens...

That's all I have to say really. I don't follow British Music Press, so I don't know what all the fuss is about, so I won't bother weighing in with that particular debate.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
03:10 / 19.01.07
Are they kittens of happinees though, or kittens of dread*?

* Not in the dub sense.
 
 
Corey Waits
05:54 / 19.01.07
Happiness. I thought "having kittens" was a universal term meaning that you are excited.

Guess it isn't as universal as I thought...
 
 
Twice
20:35 / 15.05.07
I’m coming to this thread because, well, I read it at he time and felt that it strayed rather, and became a bit of a rant against bubble-gum and a slightly dismissive cateract.

I actually went out and bought this when I first read the thread. I’d heard ‘Smile’ and stuff, and thought ho-hum I’ll give it a go. I’ve listened to it periodically and enjoyed it, but every time it’s been on I’ve thought about this thread (and really, this thread shouldn’t be coming up in my day-to-day thinkings) and wanted to reply.

I’m not knowledgeable about music, and am slightly frightened about playing with the big boys. Throughout this, though, there’s been a lack of consideration for one aspect of the songs which works well for me. I’ve no idea of where the music and lyrics came from (how much of it is created by Lily Allen?), but for me the lyrics are the key. They’re not kind to men, at all (they’re not terribly kind to anyone), but to me there are little snippets which tug very effectively at my emotions. They’re the sort of lyrics that make me want, as I’m standing at the washing-up bowl, to hoik up my top and show my tits to any man walking past. Not like Kirsty McColl, though, or Grace Jones or Edith Piaf: I dance on the kitchen table to them. Nekkid. Je ne regret rien, ho ho.

There’s none of the pure pathos of, say, England 2 – Columbia 0, although there are clear attempts to try. There’s none of the disdain of L’Accordeoniste. She’s not far off, though. Bits like

get out of my face
Leave me alone
No you can’t have my number


Or

Alright, how would it make you feel if I said you that you never ever made me come?
In the year and a half that we spent together,
Yeah, I never really had much fun.

All those times that I said I was sober,
Well I'm afraid I lied,
I'd be lying next to you, you next to me,
All the while I was high as a kite.
I could see it in your face when you give it to me gently,
Yeah, you really must think you're great,
Let's see how you feel in a couple of weeks,
When I work my way through your mates.


Or

Oh my gosh you must be joking me
if you think that you'll be poking me.

Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me ooon


But there’s a soft side, too, that when I hear it, makes me scrunch up inside.

the first time that you introduced me to your friends
and you could tell I was nervous, so you held my hand


The album gives in words a few cherry red and predictable gems. It makes me smile, both because it’s very simple and pink and because it’s a little bit pissy. It’s fun to listen to, and nod to, but it’s nowhere near as gutting as this:

You lied about your status
You lied about your life
You forgot you have three children
You forgot you have a wife
Now it's England 2 Colombia 0
And I know just how those Colombians feel


...and it falls short, but it ain't crap.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
15:48 / 16.05.07
Yes, I also like those particular lyrics a lot. They do seem to accurately represent the lifestyles/behaviour etc of at least a large chunk of, oh, 15-25 year-olds (in my experience).
 
 
All Acting Regiment
15:12 / 21.08.07
Update: I dislike the Kaiser Chiefs and the Lallen cover. They are in the video, it's not nice.
 
  

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