7/14/2007
Music Is A Hot Mashed Rutabega
Prince: Guitar
The Purple One is causing yet another uproar in the music industry by giving away copies of his new album Planet Earth free with a UK newspaper. I have to admire his complete and utter disregard for an industry that has been cheating music artists and the general public for years. His UK label pulled his contract, and labels around the world are freaking out in fear that other artists will follow suit and start giving away albums left and right. It's a brilliant publicity stunt; he certainly doesn't need the scant money CD sales bring in these days, and he's a hero among his fans, who get his new album for free. Even better is the rumored news that ex-Revolution ladies Wendy & Lisa make some sort of return appearance on Planet Earth. Is the water warm enough? First single, "Guitar" has a nice fuzzy groove but offers nothing really earth-shattering. In fact, the melody line kept nagging at me: where have I heard this before. I realized it was another Prince song I was hearing in there, "Girls and Boys" from 1986's Parade album. Can he sue himself for plagiarism? Prolly not.
Siouxsie: Into A Swan If you head over to the website of Siouxsie's new label, W14, you'll be able to hear short previews of nearly every track on her forthcoming solo debut album, Mantaray, which will have every old goth's knickers in twist when it is set forth upon the world in August. Actually, it's a pretty raw sound for Sioux, a return to the harder sound of the early Banshees a bit with a touch of Marilyn Manson glam, and she's likely to pick up a whole new generation of fans. Early reports are that lyrically, she is more personally revealing than ever, and that the Ice Queen may finally be melting a bit. Her longtime Banshees and Creatures sidekick Budgie is nowhere to be found on Mantaray, sparking rumors among fans that they're also personally separated, which lends to the long held theory that they were just "beards" for each other, and that "Into a Swan" is Siouxsie's big "coming out" moment. I dunno about that, but the song itself is a delightfully brain crunching epic. Also, I have to say she is looking absolutely hotter than ever, not bad for a 50-year old punk.
Erasure: Sunday Girl (12"Mix) Erasure might not always be at the top of the cool list, but I've been a fan since 1985, when "Oh L'Amour" made me swoop and swoon on the Club Mario's dance floor, and my love just grows stronger with each album. There was a mild rough patch during the Cowboy / Loveboat / Nightbird string of records where maybe the ideas were running a little thin, and the overall tone was on the depressing side, but even still, I loved them. The new album Light at the End of the World is a massive return to form, and to me the 2nd single "Sunday Girl" ranks up there with their best and biggest hits, a thumping, disco-riffic Abba-goes-Electro classic complete with octave bass lines and Andy Bell in full drama diva mode. The 12" mix differs only slightly from the version which opens the album but stretches it out a little, adding a few new sections that add just enough something special to make it a highly repeatable pop stomper.
Swivek: Flirt I've been wearing my record producer hat this week, having fun adding some keyboard lines to a track emailed over to me by Bradley aka Swivek. I always like using his tracks to do remixes and I've even recorded entire music tracks for him to sing atop, but this is our first "true" collaboration in a way. I think it turned out pretty swell, a nice and sassy summer pop ditty. I'm releasing the EP via my Flexible Records net label on this coming Tuesday, but here's a preview for y'all:
Siouxsie: Into A Swan If you head over to the website of Siouxsie's new label, W14, you'll be able to hear short previews of nearly every track on her forthcoming solo debut album, Mantaray, which will have every old goth's knickers in twist when it is set forth upon the world in August. Actually, it's a pretty raw sound for Sioux, a return to the harder sound of the early Banshees a bit with a touch of Marilyn Manson glam, and she's likely to pick up a whole new generation of fans. Early reports are that lyrically, she is more personally revealing than ever, and that the Ice Queen may finally be melting a bit. Her longtime Banshees and Creatures sidekick Budgie is nowhere to be found on Mantaray, sparking rumors among fans that they're also personally separated, which lends to the long held theory that they were just "beards" for each other, and that "Into a Swan" is Siouxsie's big "coming out" moment. I dunno about that, but the song itself is a delightfully brain crunching epic. Also, I have to say she is looking absolutely hotter than ever, not bad for a 50-year old punk.
Erasure: Sunday Girl (12"Mix) Erasure might not always be at the top of the cool list, but I've been a fan since 1985, when "Oh L'Amour" made me swoop and swoon on the Club Mario's dance floor, and my love just grows stronger with each album. There was a mild rough patch during the Cowboy / Loveboat / Nightbird string of records where maybe the ideas were running a little thin, and the overall tone was on the depressing side, but even still, I loved them. The new album Light at the End of the World is a massive return to form, and to me the 2nd single "Sunday Girl" ranks up there with their best and biggest hits, a thumping, disco-riffic Abba-goes-Electro classic complete with octave bass lines and Andy Bell in full drama diva mode. The 12" mix differs only slightly from the version which opens the album but stretches it out a little, adding a few new sections that add just enough something special to make it a highly repeatable pop stomper.
Swivek: Flirt I've been wearing my record producer hat this week, having fun adding some keyboard lines to a track emailed over to me by Bradley aka Swivek. I always like using his tracks to do remixes and I've even recorded entire music tracks for him to sing atop, but this is our first "true" collaboration in a way. I think it turned out pretty swell, a nice and sassy summer pop ditty. I'm releasing the EP via my Flexible Records net label on this coming Tuesday, but here's a preview for y'all:
Labels: Erasure, imeem, Music Reviews, Prince, Siouxsie Sioux, Swivek
4/13/2007
Random Thoughts: New Bakery / Deadliest Catch / Erasure
You'll Never Walk A Scone
If you haven't popped in to check out the new Bakery-by-the-Lake in the former insty-prints on 3rd St. in Cd'A, 
you just gotsta do it. I've been in twice just to grab some goodies to go, and the goodies were great. A good scone is a wonderful thing and they have many varieties to choose from. So far, I've tried the pumpkin scone and the orange-cranberry scone and they were huge and delicious. With a fresh cup of coffee it's filling enough to be breakfast and for a buck and half, the price is quite right. Also, I had a chocolate cookie that was exactly the same as mom's and that's pretty friggin' good. I also sampled a piece of fresh baked sourdough bread and *wow* - it was moist and perfect, as good as the best San Fran could offer. One suggestion: the seating area could use a bit of cozying up - all they have is a handful of cold square tables and stiff chairs in a room devoid of personality. Some plants and a bookshelf would do the trick.
I Love Watery TV Death
I typically only watch TV late in the evening in bed for an hour a two before I drift off to slumber. I get caught in certain things and they develop into a craze: "America's Next Top Model", "Top Design", "What Not To Wear", "I Love New York", anything brainless competition style reality show involving glamour girls and/or bitchy fags and I'm rapt. For some odd reason lately, I am so caught up in something totally different: "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. (No, not "The Deadliest Snatch".)
It's a gritty documentary series about commercial crab fishing boats in Alaska. For some reason, it's so fascinating to me that these people risk their lives and work 20-hour shifts in the worst possible environment imaginable, all to earn a meager living and bring a little crab to my dinner plate. Nearly every episode, someone dies a grizzly death, pulled suddenly to a watery death by catching a limb in the loop of a rope, or being sucked in by a wave and lost forever into the night sea. One episode I watched, the entire fishing boat sank and only one guy survived. Like any close-knit group of people, they have a ton of in-dramas and personal issues. they have fights and breakdowns, situations often brought on from lack of sleep and being overworked. It's quite entertaining.
I've said before I think I must have died a watery death in the deep ocean in a past life, because I've always had a morbid fascination with deep and wide bodies of water. It's not a phobia per se, and it may be partly due to seeing the movie "Jaws" when I was too young, but I'm very uncomfortable near deep water and huge ships and cargo boats turn me into a nervous wreck, even standing next to them. You won't catch me ever playing shuffleboard on the deck of a Carnival cruise...
There Are Times When I Would Scream Til I Was Blue
Erasure's 40th (!) single "I Could Fall In Love With You", like each and every one of their many hits, is an earworm from listen number one. It's a hi-energy, high camp technicolor stomper and their best new single in years. The last few studio albums have been a little on the introspective, mellow side, but the new single and the rest of the new album Light At The End Of The World sees Vince and Andy getting back to business, making fun and bubbly synth pop of the finest caliber. Andy pulls his usual witty 
songwriting trick - on the surface it's a straight-up love song, but the lyrics are oblique and witty enough to be interesting and open to interpretation.
Erasure has stuck to the same musical recipe since their earliest beginnings in 1985. In fact, to the casual listener, it's nearly impossible to date a particular song. Any given Erasure song could have been released in 1987, 1997, or 2007 with little discernible difference. It seems like Vince Clarke will never run out of catchy pop melodies for Andy Bell to warble diva-liciously atop. Having seen them live back in the heyday of the Wild! Tour, I will always picture Vince as a mad scientist frowning from behind an assortment of vintage synths and Andy as a naughty little boy in green-sequined lycra and riding across the stage on a huge mechanical swan.
It was nice to hear their songs taken out of the electronic context and performed with a full band in country and western style on last year's Acoustic Tour as documented on the brilliant live CD/DVD On The Road To Nashville. They were able to prove that their songs were strong on their own, without the whoosh and whir of production and gizmos. Trends come and go, but Erasure remain stoically the same, they are like a rock, a true old friend you can always count on to be there. Cheers to Erasure for sheer longevity and for cooking up another classic and addictive new record!
you just gotsta do it. I've been in twice just to grab some goodies to go, and the goodies were great. A good scone is a wonderful thing and they have many varieties to choose from. So far, I've tried the pumpkin scone and the orange-cranberry scone and they were huge and delicious. With a fresh cup of coffee it's filling enough to be breakfast and for a buck and half, the price is quite right. Also, I had a chocolate cookie that was exactly the same as mom's and that's pretty friggin' good. I also sampled a piece of fresh baked sourdough bread and *wow* - it was moist and perfect, as good as the best San Fran could offer. One suggestion: the seating area could use a bit of cozying up - all they have is a handful of cold square tables and stiff chairs in a room devoid of personality. Some plants and a bookshelf would do the trick.
I Love Watery TV Death
I typically only watch TV late in the evening in bed for an hour a two before I drift off to slumber. I get caught in certain things and they develop into a craze: "America's Next Top Model", "Top Design", "What Not To Wear", "I Love New York", anything brainless competition style reality show involving glamour girls and/or bitchy fags and I'm rapt. For some odd reason lately, I am so caught up in something totally different: "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. (No, not "The Deadliest Snatch".)
It's a gritty documentary series about commercial crab fishing boats in Alaska. For some reason, it's so fascinating to me that these people risk their lives and work 20-hour shifts in the worst possible environment imaginable, all to earn a meager living and bring a little crab to my dinner plate. Nearly every episode, someone dies a grizzly death, pulled suddenly to a watery death by catching a limb in the loop of a rope, or being sucked in by a wave and lost forever into the night sea. One episode I watched, the entire fishing boat sank and only one guy survived. Like any close-knit group of people, they have a ton of in-dramas and personal issues. they have fights and breakdowns, situations often brought on from lack of sleep and being overworked. It's quite entertaining.
I've said before I think I must have died a watery death in the deep ocean in a past life, because I've always had a morbid fascination with deep and wide bodies of water. It's not a phobia per se, and it may be partly due to seeing the movie "Jaws" when I was too young, but I'm very uncomfortable near deep water and huge ships and cargo boats turn me into a nervous wreck, even standing next to them. You won't catch me ever playing shuffleboard on the deck of a Carnival cruise...
There Are Times When I Would Scream Til I Was Blue
Erasure's 40th (!) single "I Could Fall In Love With You", like each and every one of their many hits, is an earworm from listen number one. It's a hi-energy, high camp technicolor stomper and their best new single in years. The last few studio albums have been a little on the introspective, mellow side, but the new single and the rest of the new album Light At The End Of The World sees Vince and Andy getting back to business, making fun and bubbly synth pop of the finest caliber. Andy pulls his usual witty 
songwriting trick - on the surface it's a straight-up love song, but the lyrics are oblique and witty enough to be interesting and open to interpretation.
Erasure has stuck to the same musical recipe since their earliest beginnings in 1985. In fact, to the casual listener, it's nearly impossible to date a particular song. Any given Erasure song could have been released in 1987, 1997, or 2007 with little discernible difference. It seems like Vince Clarke will never run out of catchy pop melodies for Andy Bell to warble diva-liciously atop. Having seen them live back in the heyday of the Wild! Tour, I will always picture Vince as a mad scientist frowning from behind an assortment of vintage synths and Andy as a naughty little boy in green-sequined lycra and riding across the stage on a huge mechanical swan.
It was nice to hear their songs taken out of the electronic context and performed with a full band in country and western style on last year's Acoustic Tour as documented on the brilliant live CD/DVD On The Road To Nashville. They were able to prove that their songs were strong on their own, without the whoosh and whir of production and gizmos. Trends come and go, but Erasure remain stoically the same, they are like a rock, a true old friend you can always count on to be there. Cheers to Erasure for sheer longevity and for cooking up another classic and addictive new record!Labels: Addictions, Erasure, Restaurant Reviews, Scones, TV, Watery Death
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