After Dinner Dance Party // It's Summertime and Living is Easy

Hey amigos,


Hope you've all had a truly spiffing weekend! We've been in love with the recent rise in temperatures and in between the many events of the week, we have had been creeping out to spent some time in the sun whenever we can! Between us we've had a fancy dress 60th birthday celebrations (where a Miss Rhi made an appearence as J-J-J-Jessie J) whilst Lauren took an eve to babysit Little M, who was a little gem. Saturday night was so much fun, drinks with friends, watching The Moons perform and then a boogie at our favourite club night. We finished the weekend with a family Christening, and finally, some rest and sleep! 


For this week's After Dinner Dance Party, we're spinning some of our essential summertime tracks... 



 A teenage fave. The Strokes, 'Is This It' gets constant plays on the Twee Towers jukebox, but it's an absolute essential at this time of year. We're sure that Summer, more than any other season craves that feeling of teenage excitement... especially when Julian Casablancas & Albert Hammond Jr is involved! 


We came across Diane Birch in 2010 when she billed on the same festival line up as James in a run of gigs he did with The Lightning Seeds. We got hold of her album shortly after and it spent that summer on repeat. Adore this soulful, poppy number and the video is amaze too!




Last but certainly not least, the sensational Coconut Grove by The Lovin' Spoonful! This song instantly conjures up wishful dreams of faraway lands with a cool sea breeze! Enjoy... 


Next weekend is set to be another fab one as the Queen's Jubilee is almost upon us. What's everyone got planned for the long break?


Much love, 
Lauren & Rhi xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Baku Countdown

There are a few annual occurrences that we look forward too each year... Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, Halloween... and Eurovision. In an unfortunate turn of events we will be missing the live show on Saturday (hold back those tears - not all bad, we're going to see The Moons again!) . So today, in honour of this yearly spectacular we're bringing you some of our historical and hilarious favourites as the rest of Europe counts down to Baku 2012 (and we make sure we set the TV to record!)





The Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956 - Switzerland were the first ever winner!

We've featured this winning song from dreamy little songstress France Gall before. Taking the crown for Luxembourg in 1965 with a little help from Serge Gainsbourg

1968 - La La La from Spain. The first year broadcast in colour, beautiful dress from the Spanish Winner...

Another from 1968, just because he's rather dishy...!


A 1980s win for the UK courtesy of Bucks Fizz - the outfits, the choreography, the revolutionary whipping off of the skirts, sensationally cheesy... Pioneering yet classic.

When trying to think of favourites of more recent years, this is the first song that springs to mind... yes really. Long gone are the live orchestras accompanying singers, the glamour and sophistication of the events (check out some of the crowd shots in the earlier videos - like a night at the theatre!) - Out comes Verka Serduchka with the CATCHIEST SONG EVER (Rhi might even have it on her iPod... Ooh it's all coming out now!). We don't know any of the words, not single one, but we sure do try singing along "zeeben zeeben I loo loo?" ... that'll do.Wondering if we can pull off going out dressed in tin foil with a Christmas tree topper on our heads... 


We believe we may have once mentioned that one day we would quite like to design outfits for John & Edward... Honestly, we love them a little bit, we really do (and we'd encourage you to come to the dark side, it is so much fun laughing at how cross they make people simply by existing - it's enlightening, really!). This is what Eurovision is all about these days, if we can't have sophistication and all elegance of the 1950s and 60s, then we want John and Edward... All together now "She's got her lipstick on, here I come da da dum" 
Good luck to UK's Engelbert Humperdink (seriously rest of Europe, his name alone is worth a vote, is it not?) and Jedward for their second year - please no shameful repeats of 2003s scores... (Nil point!)
Much love,R&L xx

After Dinner Dance Party // St. Vincent

Did anyone catch St. Vincent on Jools Holland last week? James had mentioned her name after catching the shorter show earlier in the week, so I thought I'd give it a listen. Couple of tracks later and I'd bought her album, 'Strange Mercy' Looking forward to giving it a whirl at the Twee Towers, After Dinner Dance Party playlist this eve to see what Rhi thinks! 

For those unfamilar with St Vincent, imagine the seductive airiness of Regina Spektor, transformed into ferocious, gargagy goodness, supplemented by intelligent arrangements and literate lyrics. Sooo good!  As much as we like sweet folky guitars, isn't it refreshing to hear that sweetness combined with a bit more fervor?

Interesting fact, Annie Clark, the beaut behind St. Vincent, is a former member of The Polyphonic Spree. She's since exchanged the robes and picked up some pretty sweet 60s style attire, too! Big love.

Here's St. Vincent performing, 'Cheerleader' on Jools Holland... 

Much love,

Lauren xx

After Dinner Dance Party // She's a Rainbow...

 If there's one thing to be thankful of during these relentless April Showers, it's the momentary flickers of sunshine that creates the most amazing double rainbows (...oh my gawwwd) across the sky! Situated quite high up on a hill with rolling fields in front of us, we get a pretty good view up here at Twee Towers.  This week, James & I have had the Twee Towers record player spinning with all things rainbow too! After up all my plays on Spotify, I decided to take the plunge and bought The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's album.



The GOASTT are Sean Lennon and his beautiful girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The particular track, 'Rainbows in Gasoline' took a while to grow on me,  offering moments of optimism, quickly down played by striking minor notes and melancholy lyrics. The lyrics are inquisitive, psychedelic to the point of bordering on nonsensical.  Whilst the album itself, is at times upbeat (as a listener, you almost feel like your interrupting playful moments between the couple), I absolutely adore the acoustic versions of these songs. Recorded in the couple's home studio, the duets are melodic dreams, and usually accompanied by an array of fancy dress get-up...


If you enjoyed these tracks, take a listen to Schrodinger's Cat too - the chorus takes you in directions that you didn't think you were going to go, just too lovely!    Spotting a double rainbow calls for double the musical rainbow treats, right? We've also been listening to this on repeat...

  "She comes in colours everywhere, she combs her hair, she's like a rainbow..."  

Much love,

Lauren xx

PS.  You still have a chance to win a selection of Twee Treats in our One Year Giveaway ♥  

Twee Art // Emma SanCartier

Hey Sweets,


We're always on the look out for exciting new artists to grace the walls of Twee Towers - Lola stumbled upon Emma SanCartier's Etsy shop and picked up the delightful print below for Rhi's birthday last year. There is something about her whimsical water colours and folk lore subjects that are so captivating, we feel we must add more to our collection to compliment our beautiful Little Red taking little wolfy for a walk through the woods. 






Living in San Francisco Bay, as well as being a rather fantastic freelance artist, Emma SanCartier is also a Children's book illustrator, seriously, check out 'The World is Your Oyster' it is just cutest thing - as lovers of beautiful kids books, these lovely pages are sold and on their way to Little M's (*ahem* our) bookshelf as we type!. Love this one, it reminds us of Philip Treacy's famous Galleon hat!
We're seriously art crushing on Emma SanCartier right now, aside from the gorgeous fairytale and woodland dreaminess we've featured here - she has another incredible shop OddFAUNA - full of the most charming little monster creations and darling sculptures in shadow box frames - beautiful, we definitely need more of this talented artist's work in our home!
Be sure to check out more of her stunning work on her site www.emmasancartier.com 
Do you have any new Artsy Etsy discoveries to share? We love hearing about new artists!
Much love,Rhi xx
PS.  To celebrate our first year in Twee Towers on Sunday, we're giving you the chance to win all of our fave twee-treats in a GIVEAWAY! ♥  Remember to check back for your chance to win!

Addp // Vogue, Strike A Pose

Hey Sweets,

We had SO much fun in London The Vogue Festival on Saturday - can't wait to share all the exciting details, we left feeling seriously inspired and motivated! 

Sticking to this week's theme we've been 'Vogue-ing' around the house with Madonna's classic stuck in our heads!

Come back tomorrow to hear all about the Fest!

Strike a pose.

Rhi xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Paint it, Black

Groomed by the Jack White school of monochrome & mystique, The Black Belles are an all-girl, 60s garage inspired quartet formed in Nashville. 
With a bewitching goth aesthetic of wide brimmed hats, matching pale complexions and shrouded in black lace, the first reason we love them is because they have clearly taken tips from our halloween style. 
The second reason has to be for their interesting back bio, or lack of, veiled in mystery, the only thing we've been able to find out about them is that they were allegedly all kicked out of girl scouts for poisoning cookies. We're not sure we believe this but we like a band who's a bit bad ass. 
Most of all we just love their authentic nod to the dark side of the sixties, championing the roughness of fuzz, analogue & layered with screeching organs. 
We're loving their fabulous cover of The Knickerbockers' hit, Lies... Enjoy!

Much love, Lauren xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Andy Crofts' Rope Mix

Roll up, roll up... we have some wondrous musical marvels to share with you today, with a selection of numbers chosen by Andy Crofts of UK band The Moons. The Rope mixes are, a host of playlists inspired by a love of the Hitchcock film of the same name, loaded with an unhinged array of dark delights to excite the minds of a listener with a penchant for the weird & wonderful.


Notably, the concept of the playlist itself, eerily mirrors the prolonged, suspenseful shots used by Hitchcock to draw the audience into an abyss of double meanings and a vortex of timbre.


With each individual mix devoted to exploring a different musical point of view, from the R&B driven Worlds of Wonder, to the blissful echoes of Late Night Smoke Rings, begging the listener to turn off their mind, relax and float down stream. A lovely modern day homage to the wonders of mid-century pirate radio... without the adverts!


It's seldom that we get to hear music choices from a plethora of our favourite artists, all under one roof. However, in his Circus on Mars, Andy has rounded up tracks from musical friends to bring you the ultimate, guest playlist!

★ROPE SPECIAL★ "Circus On Mars" by Andy Crofts (Rope) on Mixcloud

As well as choices from Andy Crofts, this playlist features additional great guest choices from the likes of James Buckley, The Horrors, Paul Weller, The Coral, Richard Hawley, Miles Kane, The Charlatans, The Stone Roses, Ocean Colour Scene and The Sundowners! Click on the playlist for the full track listing.

To keep up to date with The Moons, click here.

Enjoy!
Much Love,
L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party Giveaway // Der Carnaby Street!

As promised, today's vinyl revival comes all the way from Berlin! We decided that it was Lola's mission to come back with a German treat after her trip last week. Although it's undeniable that Nena's 99 luftballons is an incredible hit from the 80s that should not be snobbishly laughed aside, we thought we would set the bar a little higher and hunt out something from the mid-century. It was a hard task, shuffling through the plethora of English gems available in flea markets, they had amazing collections of Beatles, Beach Boys & Stones but had no such luck with the German pop. Was dreading Hasselhoff popping up, gyrating his way through Looking for Freedom... appreciate what you're doing but please stop the gyrating 'hoff. 



It wasn't until we sauntered into OYE Records, a vibrant home to many House & Electro vinyls, that we got excited at a small crevice dedicated to 60s soul. We decided upon the the delightful Peggy March - originally born in Pennsylvania but as she sings in German and entered Eurovision on behalf of Germany in 1969, we decided that was enough to count! This b-side to this particular 45 features our favourite, 'in der Carnaby Street' a playful lament to a happening and swinging London of the Sixties, "they hear the beat in Carnaby Street!"

Apologies for the low-fi audio we just adored the video, the seductive go-go dancers and Peggy's Gall-esque slightly awkward, shimmying... mesmerising! 


To enter:
There are two opportunities to enter this week-1. Follow the blog2. Tweet about the giveaway "I just entered to win a #sixties vinyl with @dressesinblack"
Leave us a comment on this post to let us know that you've followed and/or tweeted (2 chances to win!)
Already follow the blog? Just leave a comment to let us know that you do for a chance to enter this competition :)
Competition closes on Friday 23rd March at 6pm (gmt)
Good luck! 
Check by our dance party next week, it'll be your last chance to win one of our vinyl giveaways... spreading the record love! 
Much love, L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // A Northern Soul Giveaway!

We have been shimmying across the kitchen tiles in our After Dance Party this week, as we're spinning some British Soul! Paul Anka was one of the biggest teen idols of the 50s, he looked delightfully dashing in his day and he also wrote some massive hits for the likes of Tom Jones but we love him best for this underground dance floor stomping gem! Released in 1968, this 7" featuring  'I can't help loving you" on the A-side and 'Can't get along very well without her' on the flip has been wetting our appetite for another night at Yum Yum. 
Good news, we have one copy of this 7" to giveaway this week (courtesy of Mr Bagshaw, thank you!) 

To win, all you need to do is: 1. Follow our Facebook page 2. Leave a comment on this post to let us know that you've done it  That's it! We'll then chose a winner on Friday using a random number generator and post your vinyl out to you!

We'll have a vinyl giveaway running each Monday throughout the month of March, so keep checking by to see if anything catches your fancy!

Much Love,
L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Surfbeats

We fancied taking a short break from our usual vinyl revival posts to share a snippet of a vinyl we wished that we owned (please, if anyone can find these tracks for us, we'd LOVE it!) Since stumbling across the '60s garage, surf, freakbeat & psychedelic' channel on youtube, we've had to save it on to our bookmarks bar as we came back to it so regularly! As the weather has been getting a little warmer we can't stop dreaming of summer days and holidays so we've picked out a couple of our favourite West Coast surf instrumentals, rarely heard since they were first released on 45s...

First up, 'Ghost Hop' by the Surfmen! Love, love, love this tune. Apparently the music was provided for a film 'A life in the sun' but we haven't been able to find anything else about it anywhere, if you do, give us a shout!


The most incredible footage featuring synchronised life-saving! From volume 3 of the collection, it's 'Once and for all girl' by The Other 4!

Starting from next week, our After Dinner Dance Parties are going to include an extra treat for all you lovely people... a vinyl giveaway, one for each week in March! Check by next week to see how you can grab one!

Much love,

L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Cheated Hearts

What could be more fitting for Valentines week Vinyl Revival than this lovely special edition Heart Shaped Yeah Yeah Yeahs record. Truly sweet even though, unfortunately, it doesn't spin all too well, it's still a special piece in our record collection. Perhaps a slightly anti V-Day song choice, despite the record being aesthetically perfect for the theme... Check out our Facebook page for a more romantic Yeah Yeah Yeahs selection ♥



Love this video of fan performances. Karen O - a goddess as always.

Spreading more love tomorrow!

Much love
R&L xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Teddy Boys

Another charming vinyl find from our very successful carboot rummage last year. Elvis Presley hits Vol 1 features a delightful array of Mr Presley's most loved early hits that has had us twirling After Dinner this Week, lifting spirits and giving us a healthy dose of inspiration for our collection too :)



Our pick for this week is (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, released between All Shook Up and Jailhouse Rock, it charted at Number 1 for 7 weeks (Elvis' 3rd Number 1 of that year) ... It was also performed, as in the video below, in Elvis' second feature film 'Loving You'.

The lyrics have us smiling everytime and Elvis has us melting, we would SO let him be our teddy bear. Oh my!



So, resisting temptation to turn this into a blog entirely devoted to Elvis fangirling, we shall leave it at that for this week. Be sure to pop over to our Facebook page for a bonus track from the record.

Much love sweets,
R&L
xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Vinyl Revival Pt. 4

We hope it hasn't gone unnoticed that Ringo Starr is quite possibly our favourite Beatle (sorry John, Paul & George!) ... So who better to feature this week than the genius behind Octopus's Garden himself? Back in the stacks of Rhi's Dad's collection is this rather special single - Ringo Starr - Only You.

This single is from his 1974 album Goodnight Vienna, John Lennon actually recorded the initial demo of this version and sent it to Ringo suggesting that he cover it. Lennon plays acoustic guitar on the track while Ringo replaced his vocal and brought in Harry Nilsson ("Everybody's talkin' at me...") to sing the harmonies.




Not only does Ringo Appear on the single sleeve and the video wearing a space suit (thrilling, we love space too!), there's also a UFO flying above the Hollywood Hills at the start (Eee! Ringo as a spaceman AND unidentified flying objects, too much!) - here is the brilliant video, filmed atop Capitol Records, LA!





If you're hearing this for the first time and thinking, "Gee, that song is certainly familiar, why is it so familiar?" - then listen to the original below from The Platters, Ringo sure does make it his own, only just recognisable as the track originally released in 1955!



C'est tout for this week sweets. Don't forget to check the facebook page for a bonus Ringo track!

Much love,
R&L xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Vinyl Revival part II

Continuing the After Dinner Dance Party Vinyl Revival we're bringing you a classic from the record collection Rhi inherited from her Dad... Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends, one of our favourite albums of all time featuring the timeless 'America'...

Side one follows a concept of life's journey, a plea for the life of a child through to 'voices of old people' - America, the third track, sits in the middle of the journey and tells the tale of a literal and metaphorical journey, one heading eastward across America, in a bid to explore and discover the country, and another in the hope self discovery...

"Kathy, I'm lost" I said,
though I knew she was sleeping,
I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why..."

If we ever decided to leave home and become a stewardess... This would be the song we'd use to explain why.

Happy dancing!

Much love,
L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Vinyl Revival

It's time to put a new spin on an old feature! We're still dancing around the Twee Towers kitchen after dinner to make the tedious task of doing the dishes a little more entertaining but with stacks of vinyl that had been temporarily abandoned in our studio, we'll be using this slot to pull some of our old (and new!) records to share with you! So, concentrating on one vinyl a week, we're starting with one of our most recent purchases, 'Cat's Eyes' with their self titled album!

This album was the soundtrack to our summer last year and we've loved playing it in the studio again this week while we've been getting organised for the year ahead! Cat's Eyes are a duo formed by Rachel Zaffira, a renowned opera soprano and classical multi-instrumentalist and Faris Badwan, lead singer from the London based psych/shoe-gaze band 'The Horrors'.
At the moment, we're absolutely loving the Sixties revival that's beginning to emerge in contemporary tunes. Cat's Eyes, undeniably harks back to Sixties from the Phil Spector 'wall of sound' present in the drums to the wistful vocal delivery, that sounds a little Velvet Underground in the Nico days.
We just love the constant juxtapositions within the tracks; the orchestral production and garagy guitar sounds, the heart-warming melodies and the unsettling eeriness created by the reverb on the vocals. It's a great album to stick on while being creative!
It was so difficult to chose just one song from this album as they all have something really different to offer. We've went for 'Face in the Crowd', the first song that we heard as a introduction to the band for those that are unfamiliar. if you've got a moment, go on youtube and take a look at their gig at the vatican... stunning!



if you've been riffling through your vinyls, let us know what you've been listening to! To hear more Cat's Eyes, check out our Facebook for an additional After Dinner treat!
Happy Dancing!
Much love, L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Christmas Tunes Pt 2

Another week closer to Christmas, barely containing ourselves! Now that that the tree is up we're focussing on finishing up the last bits of shopping and wrapping everything up (did we say last bits? Ok... we still have a lot to do - HELP!)! Of course some Christmas plans will need to be put on hold this week as we do have a very special Twee Towers birthday coming up, you'll see how we're celebrating that on Saturday! In the meantime loves, here are some special Festive hits we've selected for you, pause 'A Very She and Him Christmas' for a couple of minutes (we know its the best Christmas album you've ever heard!) and give these a listen...

Another marvel from our favourite musical master of all time. Joe Meek & Valerie Masters bring us the most delightfully festive song 'Christmas Calling' - makes one feel all warm and fuzzy. It has the pretty twinkley jingles, sleigh bells and sweet lyrics of your average festive classic, but it still has that Joe Meek touch in the ethereal backing vocals, and something else we can't quite put our finger on... Dreamy tune, and not even 1000 views on Youtube, we feel like we're sharing a well kept secret!



Tim Wheeler & Emmy The Great have collaborated again to bring us the fabulous album 'This is Christmas'... 'Home for the Holidays' is a charming tune from the album, that tells the adorable story of old friends and sweethearts running into each other in the holidays (don't you just know exactly what they're talking about, its like every Christmas coming home after you've moved away!)... Is it love rekindling, new sparks between old friends, or is it the 'mistletoe and wine'? Love. (nb: sorry for the Cliff pun, that was naff, even for us!)

We don't think we've included Elvis in an After Dinner Dance Party before today, we apologise profusely, how could we ever overlook The King. Here he is, singing about the Blue Christmass he's experiencing, poor dear, don't you just want to squeeze the heartache right out of that beautiful, beautiful man - sigh!

Some fab DIYs and yummy recipes still to come this week, as well as picking the winner for our FABULOUS GIVEAWAY, don't forget to enter!! More festive tracks next weeks lovelies!

Much love,

R&L xx

ps. Don't miss our 'Blog of The Day' interview over on Eclectic Eccentricity's Blog where we talk about our favourite EE piece and who we'd like to see under the mistletoe this year...

pps. Follow this blog via Blog Lovin'

After Dinner Dance Party // Back to Twee

It's that time again folks! If you're new to our blog, our After Dinner Dance Parties started out as our nightly ritual to keep our spirits up while we did the dishes. It normally involves a sing along and occasionally involves erratic dance moves around the kitchen floor to whatever we're listening to that week! So, if you need some motivation for an after dinner clean up, stick on this playlist and enjoy a couple minutes of twee musical goodness. This week we have been well and truly bowled over by these lush songs with stunning videos.


We first featured The Honey Trees and their magnificent cover of Moonriver in one of our earlier After Dinner Dance Parties, and we're no less enamoured by them now. Their romantic chemistry translates beautifully in this video for the wonderful 'To Be With You'. Love.


Re-visiting another old Twee Towers favourite with Laura Marling's new album, 'A Creature I Don't Know'. Definitely lived up to our expectations and the video to the title track gives us goosebumps.


Ahh and lastly from Australia, The Paper Kites with 'Featherstone'. Absolutely beaut <3
Hope you enjoy sweets, feel free to add to the playlist in the comments, we'd love to hear what you're listening to too!
Much love, L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // Autumn tracks

Brrr, the cold mornings and dark night certaintly crept in quite fast! Despite our shivers, we are well and truely embracing the seasonal change over here at Twee Towers, which is why we thought we'd share some of the cosy autumnal inspired tracks that we've been humming along to in this week's After Dinner Dance Party .Snuggle up, grab a mug of hot chocolate & enjoy the prettiness...

As always, Devendra Banhart's soulful vocals soothe like a beautiful lullaby in this track 'Autumn's Child' ... heavenly. How cute is the cover illustration too?

Carla Bruni will always be the epitome of dreaminess no matter how melancholy her lyrics are... a song simply titled, 'Autumn'.


And lastly, we LOVE The White Stripes so were were stupidly pleased to find this cover... Nina Persson (of The cardigans fame) adds some sultry vocals to 'Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground', whilst still retaining Jack White's signature raunchy guitar sound. Beaut!
Nice, huh? We would have also have liked to added Edith Piaf's 'Autumn Leaves' to the mix but You Tube said, NO. Enjoy lovelies, and don't forget to practise your best leaves kicking moves.
Much love, L&R xx

After Dinner Dance Party // All Hallows Beats

BOO! Its all Hallows week - we've prepared a host of spectre-tastic tunes and beats for you to get your freak on to this week guys and ghouls!

Enjoy...

Dusty's version of 'Spooky' is oh so cool - "love is kind of crazy with a spooky little boy like you..." - gives us the chills!

The Sonic's garage classic The Witch is sure to have you stomping - 'she's gonna make you itch!'

The Cramps' Human Fly - this video features wickedly creepy footage from the classic horror film of the same name. Eek - why are people always so careless in science labs, don't they know it never bodes well...

The king of horror - Bela Lugosi's dead. We do love the Bauhaus version but this Nouvelle Vague version works so, so well with Lugosi's Dracula footage we couldn't not share... Watch your necks ladies...

Lord Sutch creeping on his audience. What a performance, love the ladies cowering in the front row in giddy terror.

We did have Screamin Jay Hawkins here but couldn't resist featuring this, from THE BEST Halloween movie of all time - We've put a spell on you Sanderson Sister style. NOW YOU CAN'T STOP DANCING. Muahahahaha.

We've got an exciting week of 'Trick or Twee' lined up for you all - recipes and DIYs, even a little freebie or 2!

Hope you're having a frightfully fantastic day...

Much love,
R&L xx