ellie goulding

Like or Dislike: Calvin Harris – I Need Your Love (featuring Ellie Goulding)

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Ricky in Song of the Day | Leave a comment

I can’t really decide whether or not I like or dislike this song. Released earlier this summer, I Need Your Love is the seventh single off Calvin Harris record and it’s been a pretty big hit this summer. Yet I can’t decide whether I actually like this song. I think it has to do with the lyrics and the delivery.

For some reason, when Ellie sings the chorus

I need your love
I need your time
When everything’s wrong
You make it right
I feel so high
I come alive
I need to be free with you tonight
I need your love

I feel like she is singing it in a tone or manner that feels instructional. It reminds me of ESL or when you are learning French or something and the teacher delivers a sentence in that tone in which you have to repeat it. Sadly, me and everyone else who has listened to this song has now memorized these lyrics and in my mind, any song we can sing out, we will end up liking, whether you like it or not. So I feel like somehow I have been tricked into liking this song because I know the lyrics, and I only know the lyrics because this song sounds like an instructional or tutorial lesson on the actual lyrics. Does that even make sense?

I guess that’s probably how all pop songs work, but for some reason, I feel duped on this one. Having said that, I’d probably still dance to it so maybe I’m also a hypocrite.

Cover of the Day: Ellie Goulding (with Tiny Tempah) – Hanging On (Active Child)

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Ricky in Covers | Leave a comment

If Ellie Goulding was a character in Dungeons and Dragons, her ‘cover another artist’ ability would probably +100 or something. I don’t actually know if that’s a correct comparison since I don’t know anything about Dungeons and Dragons, but that is what I am assuming is on the cards. As we all know, Ellie Goulding can cover songs well, whether it be a club track like Rhianna’s Only Girl in the World or a classic ballad like Elton John’s Your Song. This time around she takes on a track by Active Child, of all people.

Hanging On was one of the standout tracks off Active Child’s debut record You Are All I See and one that focuses on Pat Grossi’s voice featuring minimal arrangements. The Ellie Goulding cover takes the track and makes it less depressing and more poppy (as you would expect) and also features a cameo by Tiny Tempah for some reason. I really don’t know why he’s in there, maybe he was chilling in Ellie’s studio, smoking some weed and decided to add his two cents. Why did I just assume he smokes weed? Weird. Anyway, it’s an ambitious reworking of one of the more unique tracks from last year. Does it work? I’m not sure, but it’s an interesting take regardless. Check it out.

Cover of the Day: Ellie Goulding – Only Girl (In the World) / Rihanna Cover

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Ricky in Covers | 1 Comment

BBC Radio 1’s yearly Live Lounge collection always seems to come up with a few gems. For those not in the know, the compilation is a collection of live tracks that were played at the Radio 1 studios. At some point during the Radio 1 sessions, someone decided it was a good idea to record these tracks, so starting in 2006, they released a yearly compilation of the best bits from the year. Now a lot of artist travel through Radio 1’s land and they often like to do covers for some reason so every year, you see some interesting covers, among those include

Arctic Monkey – Love Machine (Girls Aloud cover)
The Futureheads – Hounds of Love (Kate Bush .. also voted one of the best tracks of that year)
Amy Winehouse – Valerie (later re-recorded for Mark Ronson)
Diizzee Rascal – That’s Not My Name (way better than the original Ting Tings version)

You get the drift.

I just recently got the 2011 version of this compilation and stumbled upon this number, which features reigning UK Heavyweight Champion of the World Ellie Goulding covering USA’s Intercontentinal Champion – Rihanna (I would say either Katy Perry / Lady Gaga hold the heavyweight championship belt). If there’s one artist who has benefitted tremendously from doing covers in the past year or so, it’s Ellie Goulding. Her heartfelt rendition of Your Song topped charts all over the commonwealth and elevated her from mid-card to main event status. Why am I using wrestling terminologies? I don’t know.

For this compilation, Ellie covered Rihanna’s second best track (best dance track though) Only Girl in the World. Once again, she strips the song down to the bare basics, slows down the track and even adds a string section. The results are pretty good. It helps that the original song was fantastic, but this is an original and unique take on it. Check it out.

Concert Review: Ellie Goulding, August 1st, Kool Haus

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Ricky in Concerts | Leave a comment

ellie goulding kool haus

Toronto – Ellie Goulding‘s stock has been on a slow but steady climb over the past year. The electro-acoustic siren first captured some hearts last year with her dance floor track Starry Eyed. A few average singles (The Writer, Guns and Horses) later, She seemed destined for a comfortable Marina/Little Boots level of success before releasing her cover of Elton John’s Your Song last fall. The cover was pretty much perfect – take an entirely famous song, somehow completely make it your own and then release a video highlighting how cute and adorable you are. Suddenly Ellie Goulding was everywhere. One sxsw trip, royal wedding performance and SNL appearance later and it would seem Ellie Goulding is on the doorsteps of mega stardom. Which brings us to Monday night at the Kool Haus.

A packed all ages crowd anxiously awaited the blonde starlet after the Bag Raiders set. Armed with a three piece band, Ellie Goulding took the stage shortly after nine and played an eighty minute set that spanned her entire discography. The show could be broken up into three acts with the first being an energetic beginning (featuring Under the Sheets) to get the crowd in the proper mood. One of the things i love about pop crowds is that they are just ready to rock. The audience started dancing from the first notes of the first song and rarely let up. The beginning was followed up by the acoustic / intimate middle portion which saw Ellie strum a few acoustic tunes, tell a few anecdotes and delivering her hit single Your Song. I wonder how many people knows it was a cover. It didn’t matter, people loved it. It’s a powerful track and one of those cool lighter in the air moments, only it’s 2011, so instead of lighters, you have a bunch of iphones trying to record the track (to poor effect). The band took the stage shortly after and the show went into the triumphant hits filled (Lights, Starry Eyed) third act. Needless to say, the crowd ate it up.

As a performer, Ellie is pretty content on letting her voice and music do the talking. She’ll frequently play on her guitar, and help with the drums and on a few tracks, show a few dance moves. Her anecdotes are charming and she plays the show with a certain “wow, I’m actually doing this!” enthusiasm that makes it hard not to like. Going forward it will be interesting to see if she goes full pop or continue to straddle the electric/acoustic folk line she has drawn for herself. Either way, if she keeps on writing catchy tracks, no one’s going to care.

Guns and Horses by Ellie Goulding

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