USA Olympians try their hand at Cockney Slang

A United States Olympic wrestler says she knows that "people in London talk funny," but does she know that the Cockney dialect she's speaking of actually has specific social and geographic ties?


To get themselves in the London spirit, a gaggle of U.S. Olympians took to the classroom to try their hand at the infamous Cockney accent. Their efforts are both hilarious and unfortunate, but in the end, one thing was true: USA should be grateful that Cockney impressions is not an Olympic sport. If it were, the Americans would dominate for all the wrong reasons.

 

Holly Throsby is a singer-songwriter originally from Sydney, Australia but currently based in London. Holly’s songs are mostly set at night, and are built around finger-picked guitar and her distinctive, fragile voice. 

The arrangements, which incorporate double bass, piano accordion, melodian, clarinet and the barest of vocal recordings, are both delicate and painterly.

She has released five full length albums- On Night in 2004, Under The Town in 2006, A Loud Call in 2008, a children’s album, See! and Team both in 2011. She was nominated for an ARIA award in 2006 for Best Female. In 2007 she released an EP called One Of You For Me. 

Holly has played shows with Joanna Newsom, Smog, David Pajo, Devendra Banhart and Architecture in Helsinki and has toured in Australia with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon), The Eels, Hayden, Micah P. Hinson, Art of Fighting and New Buffalo.

At 33 minutes, the album is short and sweet; and with ten uniform songs, Throsby manages to create a musical nook that both feels familiar and unique. It’s claustrophobic, sweet, sad and filled with minutia that ground her airy, epic sentiments. The final track, When?, sees Throsby singing out to a void; heartbroken and wishing to get over a love that may just be doomed to last for eternity. It is the best song on the album and trickles out beautifully, leaving the album hanging. Throsby's is a world worth visiting.


Download album here.
Listen to album here.