Tag Archives: Alright Still

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Song of the Day #6,602a: ‘LDN’ – Lily Allen

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…

#7 – Alright, Still – Lily Allen

I say this every time I revisit the Decades series, but it’s worth saying again. The best part of Decades is revisiting albums I haven’t listened to in forever and remembering how much I liked (and usually still like) them.

That’s certainly the case for English singer-songwriter Lily Allen’s debut album Alright, Still, which I haven’t played in full for probably a decade and a half. Listening to it today, I was instantly reminded of every lively little nuance, every endearing quirk that made this record such a refreshing blast.

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Song of the Day #827: ‘Smile’ – Lily Allen

Top Ten Female Vocalists – #10 – Lily Allen

Following two weeks of my favorite male vocalists, I’m now turning my attention to the women. Same rules apply… these are artists whose voices are one of the main reasons I listen to them.

You won’t see somebody like Lucinda Williams here, even though she’s one of my favorite artists and I love the way she sings her songs… her voice isn’t a big enough part of what makes her special to me.

I found this list far easier than the male list to compile. I rattled the ten women featured here off the top of my head in seconds, while I had to struggle to come up with ten men. And I’m leaving women off of this list who I thought would have made it, but the competition was too stiff.

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Song of the Day #432: ‘Everything’s Just Wonderful’ – Lily Allen

lilyallen3Lily Allen makes my list of sexy performers for two reasons: attitude and accent. Yes, she’s a pretty woman, but in the way that somebody you work or go to school with is pretty… which is actually another part of her charm. There’s something very real about her brash no-bullshit style, a contrast to the pop princesses to whom she’d otherwise be compared.

And then there’s her voice, and particularly her accent. I’ve never considered myself a sucker for accents the way some people are. But in recent years I’ve noticed that some accents work a bit of magic on me. A slight southern accent can have that effect. Definitely a Scottish accent (as you’ll see later this week). And a working-class British accent… big winner. I could listen to Lily Allen sing all day just to hear her pronunciations.

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Song of the Day #67: ‘Littlest Things’ – Lily Allen

Alex brought this up the other day and I told her I’d put it on my blog, so here I am being true to my word.

It’s funny how some British artists completely mask their accents in song while others sing it like they speak it. Is this a deliberate choice in either direction? Or is it the luck of the draw? And if it is a deliberate choice, in which direction?

In other words, do the non-accented singers (like, say, Bono) go out of their way to sound “American,” perhaps in the interest of U.S. sales? Or do the accented singers (like today’s choice, Lily Allen) play up their natural accents in song for effect?

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