Music
Goodbye dry eyes
It’s pretty rare that I like a remake to begin with — but there are exceptions. In fact, I have never heard the original of this song, something I should quickly rectify. Tom Rush is not someone in my general musical purview, but perhaps he should be.
Also surprising is that I have come […]
Sanctuary
I’m normally not a fan of anything quasi-religious whatsoever when it comes to popular music, but the Passions (again, quasi-religious sounding) are a seriously underrated and fantastic band from the early 80’s. So they get a reprieve.
The Passions — Sanctuary
Crash even more slowly
This has got to be the only “inspired by Vienna-era Ultravox” pop single in my catalogue of music, from the Swedish band Strasse. All they need is the shit-eating grin of Midge Ure and a triangulated, downplayed drum machine and you’ve got a crossover hit!
Strasse — Crash Slowly
Here Comes A Saturday
For the first Saturday of a new year (and new decade, as well), I give you a song from 3 decades prior, in 1979. Yet it is just as relevant and just as lovely as ever.
Cowboys International — Here Comes A Saturday (1979)
Fin de siècle: a mini mixtape
Here is an ad hoc, interim mixtape that follows very little rhyme or reason — it’s just a collection of what I’ve been listening to lately. Goodbye 2009, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Eddie & Sunshine — People Talk
Bagarre — For Your Pleasure
Nathalie — Mon cœur qui craque
Munich Machine — It’s […]
Dumb waiters
Isn’t this album cover pop art at its finest?
And while I wouldn’t say the album’s contents itself are perfect, it has a brilliant production value that is something akin to the Beatles and Spector in the synthpop age. Listen to “Perfect Hostess”, for example:
The Korgis — Perfect Hostess
Junction music
Some of my favorite songs have been used for junction music on BBC, or even sometimes as the theme song.
In the late 1970’s, they occasionally used David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” to announce upcoming programs. The venerable documentary show “Arena” is something else, though, it is simply a work of art, both visually and musically. […]
Greg Vandike
One of my few ‘hipster cred’ indulgences is courtesy of last.fm, when you find that your very own screen name is listed as one of the ‘top listeners’. And I’m not talking some mainstream band, I’m talking about something or someone like Greg Vandike, who is all but forgotten by almost everyone.
See! Here I am!
Greg […]
On the thirteenth day my true love gave to me…
on the 13th day
(click to play)
Corrugated horse flesh candy in lime marmalade
Dolphin heads in aspic with a butterfly brocade
Lyre-birds in a stained glass cage, with lightning rods as plumes
Double-jointed black men playing leap-frog on the moon
Sea foam in a snow white shroud, red herrings round its teeth
Puffball spores exploding on a bed of burning wreaths
Venus fly-trap tigers […]