Vixen's Mixens: From the Vault! 70s Brits

As I noted in a prior post, before embarking on a fab trip to London a few years back I made playlists of Brits by decade, from the 60s to the present. My original 70s Brits mix was a spare 60 minutes long and did not cover much ground - but with the magic of Spotty I have a new and improved 70s Brits playlist for all of you to enjoy! In industry terms this would be considered the expanded deluxe reissue.

I tried my best to cover all types of genres in this mix, with help from this great Wikipedia article. On this playlist you will find blues rock, soft rock, glam rock, prog rock (the least annoying possible - a 1:40 Yes song is almost unheard of but I managed to find it and utilize it) and even pub rock. There is also punk, post-punk, new wave and a tiny bit of pop (Brits do not have the best pop taste, unfortunately.) Some of the songs are on the obvious side, such as Sex Positols Anarchy in the UK, but honestly that is their only good song - if you don't believe me I dare you to try to sit through that entire album. Others are nice hidden gems, including a couple girl-punk bands The Slits (with the super cool Newtown) and The Raincoats (with an ahead of its time No Side to Fall In.)

As for omissions, the Pink Floyd selection was dreadful and as I am not a big fan, I didn't bother putting a crappy live cut on the mix. Of course Led Zeppelin is not on Spotty as they are notoriously stingy with their digital content, like the Beatles! Other than that, the 70s Brits are very well represented on Spotify and I did not need to make too many alterations from my original 21 track set. As always, feel free to let me know if I left any favorites out.

Next week's playlist is a set of carols and such entitled, "Hipster for the Holidays." Although I am not yet in the holiday spirit I am hoping this mix will help bring me there. Until next time!

Vixen's Mixens: From the Vault! 60s Brits

Right before I took a trip to London a couple years back, I prepped a series of iTunes mixes of my fave songs by English artists (by decade) for my travel group to enjoy on the plane ride. Unfortunately most of them didn't have the chance to give them a listen after taking their Tylenol PMs with the booze of their choice.

To give these enjoyable mixes one more shot, I have converted them to Spotify and even added some bonus tracks, as Spotty's collection of Britpop definitely outnumbered my own. To begin I give you: 60s Brits, a fun collection filled with British Invasion artists. Fans of Quentin Tarantino may recognize the amazing ditty Hold Tight by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, which was so beautifully used in Death Proof. There is also a couple choice tunes by the Troggs, inlcuding With a Girl Like You and the classic Love Is All Around, which never fails to make me think of Bill Nighy's ridiculous version of the song Christmas is All Around from Love Actually.

As usual, if you see any glaring omissions or errors please send me your comments and recommendations (they may make the playlist!) Reminder: no Beatles or Zeppelin on Spotty:-( Also this mix was only artists from England (no Scotts, Welsh or Irish.) So if you are yelling, "Where the F*** is Donovan?!!," there is your answer (he's Scottish.)

So in the future you will see other Brit decade playlists (70s, 80s, 90s and 00s), but as for next week the theme will be: Cover me! A playlist of only covers (I am sure it will be the first of many.)

Vixen's Flixens: The Trip

If you enjoy meta movies where actors play fictionalized versions of themselves then this is the move for you. Michael Winterbottom's latest film, The Trip, was my favorite movie from this summer and is now available on Netflix Instant Viewing!

Steve Coogan (Mr. Alan Partridge) and Rob Brydon (Uncle Bryn from Gavin & Stacey) basically teach a masterclass in the art of comic timing, chemistry and impressions in this film, which was actually first a six episode BBC series in 2010 before being edited to a feature length film.

I seriously recommend this movie to anyone who likes to laugh, but specifically to fans of British comedy. One thing I can guarantee is that you will be working on your Michael Caine impression after seeing this.

Reasons to Watch BBC America

Ashes to Ashes - The chemistry between Alex Drake and Gene Hunt is almost as amazing as the soundtrack to this trippy series where a police office shot in 2008 wakes up in 1981.



Mistresses - So many crazy, naughty and funny things happen in every episode! It is so addicting. And Domenic (the co-worker Siobhan started nailing when her perfect husband was too technical in the sack because they were trying to get preggers, who of course gets her pregnant instead of her sterile husband - this was in like 3 episodes) is waaaay hot.



Gavin & Stacey - By far the sweetest, funniest, crassest and adorable sitcom I have ever seen. I seriously adore this show - thankfully the shows creators Ruth Jones (Nessa) and James Cordon (Smithy) are working on series 3!! The Welsh accents of Nessa and Bryn kill me - Whats occurin? Thats crackin. Can't embed but check out the link.


BBC America lets me release me true anglophile self. I do believe that all of these shows will be available to purchase from the bbcamerica shopat some point. Please take a look if you can!