You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'music' tag.
Some old, some new and some kinda old/kinda new.
Lost: Susanna and the Magical Orchestra
Oh Susanna! Blessed with a powerful voice so understated and so utterly, utterly melancholy. After Nouvelle Vague did their gimmicky samba schtick to Love Will Tear Us Apart, it took these Norwegians to restore the song’s profound bleakness [YouTube]. That cover joined many other supersad covers on Melody Mountain (their version of Kiss’ Crazy Crazy Nights has to heard to be believed). And now they are back with 3, an album of (mostly) originals. And it’s surperb. Susanna’s spectral, but strong, voice is surrounded by sparse, moody electronics. It may be beautiful, but this is not dinner party music.
Brrrr, is it autumn?
Here’s Lost.
Purchase 3 on iTunes.
Medevac: Siobhan Donaghy
“At this point in time I have no further plans to undertake another record of my own. Ultimately, the true nature of the business side of the music industry is enough to keep me away. Nonetheless, if I find myself in the future bursting with ideas and experiences I feel the need to share through music, I will be back,” Donaghy stated in an interview with We7 in January 2009. What a shame. Back in 2001, when she left Sugababes, would anyone really have expected a popstrel like here to eventually release a lush piece of grown up pop like this.
Listen to Medevac (2007)
Sweet Gospel Music: Prefab Sprout
I’ve been utterly spoiled this year with releases from my favourite acts. The Pets, Mew, Empire Of The Sun… Probably no chance that the Blue Nile or Scritti will crank one out before Christmas, but rivalling both of those in the not-exactly-prolific stakes is Paddy McAloon. He says he’s constantly writing but isn’t much cop at the releasing part. How nice for him, the artiste, but we want to hear these amazing-sounding things you’re doing, damn you! Get a PayPal account and shove them online yourself, man!
Anyway, he’s a genius and he has revisted tracks he demoed in 1992 (!) but then got distracted and put them aside. He’s got someone in to tart them up a bit and are they not glorious. The album is a triumph.
I felt a bit conflicted about sharing an mp3 of the Sprouts. I would hate to think that I would detract from their income, but, you know what, anyone who loves the Sprouts already has this album. I’ve bought it twice (couldn’t wait for the CD I had pre-ordered so I downloaded it from iTunes!). This is mostly aimed at people who don’t know Prefab Sprout, or think that they were just novelty hitmakers (The King of Rock N Roll, UK No 7, 1988 [YouTube]). Listen to this and you’ll get a flavour of the sheer richness of lyric, voice, melody. Get the 38 Carat Collection which has all the ‘hits’ and important tracks and is dirt cheap. Go get now.
Listen to Sweet Gospel Music
1. Love’s The Only Drug Ultra Naté
Turns out she’s got more under her belt than the admittedly magnificent Free. Listen to this gurgling synthy goodness as presented by DJ Sacflashback (sounds v similar to the original, so shall we just say the remix is ‘most sympathetic’?)
2. The Roll-Off Characteristics (of History in the Making) Cornershop
Turns out they have got more under their belt than the admittedly magnificent Brimful of Asha. Thanks to the fantastic cover mount CDs that come with The Word magazine each month, it turns out that Cornershop are still making interesting stuff as this tasty slice of very English oddness attests. And it’s from an album called (I shit you not) Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast.
3. The Wings Of Sleep (When Night Is Dark And Deep) The Geoff Love Orchestra feat. Ann Howard Jones & Moira Anderson
An exercise in randomness. Click aimlessly through Spotify for a while and goodness knows what appears. I’ve been saving this to tag on the end of a chill out compilation, but to hell with it, have it now. This piece is from The Dancing Years, a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. And isn’t it just gorgeous? (And I wonder if Ann Howard Jones ever threw off her mental chains? Ooh ooh oooh…)
Note: Some people ask how they can keep these lovely songs on their own computers or other radiophonic equipment. You can always purchase from reputable online musical emporiums. Alternatively, Firefox users might *cough* investigate further *cough* .
And it’s gorgeous video no. 3 from the deranged Empire Of The Sun. As We Are The People (shot in Mexico) gets into the UK Top 20 finally, Australia get the third single. This time the video is shot in Oz and has a lot of Luke doing the usual shape-throwing and being ridiculous. (And as frequent readers will know, this is precisely how Daddy or Chips likes his pop stars).
Question: Nick Littlemore doesn’t seem to be in the vid much (at all?). He’s also not going to be part of the Empire of the Sun tour in autumn. Has Luke got rid of him (as he did with pretty much everyone in The Sleepy Jackson)?
Question 2: How can they afford these amazing videos?
Today was filled with brilliant sunshine, which led me to drag out Brilliant Sunshine by whatever-happened-to 90’s Irish pop act Treehouse Diner. I remember ver Treehouse being somewhat of an oddity back in the early 90s. While every other Irish act wanted to be rocky U2 types (thereby extinguishing within me whatever support can be mustered through patriotism), Treehouse Diner were rather intelligent pop. A less sophisticated Prefab Sprout perhaps?
Treehouse Diner
And then I heard it again. That odd synthesizer sound that floats throughout this track and many others from the mid-to-late 80s. It could be a Thomas Dolby thing, because it was all over Steve McQueen. A sort of metallic ‘oooooooooooooo’ that manages to make even very happy songs like this sound rather melancholy.
Have a listen:
Where is that ooooooooooooooo now one wonders? If anyone knows what it’s called and where I can get it, do tell; I can think of zillions of tracks that could be saddened up with a bit of oooooooooooooooooo.
Where did this come from?
Spotify is a very cool app that looks a bit like iTunes, streams music at a high quality almost instantly and is perfectly legal.
It’s invite only at the moment (and not available in Ireland it seems), but I have some invites if anyone wants to try (email me daddyorchipsblog[at]gmail.com).
It has a very impressive range of tracks, so one can listen to albums or artists that one wouldn’t normally pursue. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at some Quincy Jones’ back catalogue, Girls Aloud doing Je Ne Parle Pas Francais, and all sorts of stuff.
You know those tracks that are totally out of character for an act? The ones that make you go ‘Huh?’. I’m thinking of when Eurythmics came back in 1987 after a string of hits with the utterly mad Beethoven (I Love To Listen To). Paul McCartney and his Frog Chorus. So, I’ve created a playlist called When Decent Acts Go A Bit Batshit. I look forward to your suggestions.
You may be a sharp dresser, you may be a fantastic dancer, you may be a lively conversationalist, but what happens at the end of the evening when the time comes to show how you feel? Unless you can kiss with confidence all your fancy dressing, dancing and talking won’t get you a second date.
Jesus Christ. They have gone and re-released the first Now from 1983. 1.9.8.3.
How many of you have this on vinyl? Of course it was either vinyl or cassette back then, and the idea of 30 – 30 – tracks by the original artists and not edited was a rather novel thing at the time. And I really really loved Will Powers’ Kissing With Confidence.
I seem to recall this coming out in January, but I didn’t get it immediately. Why not?
a) I was 9
b) Stuff like Genesis and Simple Minds didn’t really appeal.
c) I may not have had £6.99 (about €435 in today’s money).
d) I was edging more towards cassettes at that point and was very scared to make the wrong format decision.
In fact, I went on to buy all the Nows up to about 46. Vinyl up to about 20 with a few cassettes too (Now 4 was the first one on tape for me).
Anyway, this all reminds me why I never subscribed to the ‘vinyl is superior to CD’ argument. They popped, scratched and generally sounded pretty rough by the time they got to the last track. I remember Culture Club’s Victims sounding particularly rough on this album. CD’s rocked. And hey, mp3 is pretty fine too; let’s not be too nostalgic; I’d rather have a few thousand tracks in my pocket than a tea-chest full of vinyl in the parents’ attic.
The tracklist:
| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love |
| 2. Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know |
| 3. UB40 – Red Red Wine |
| 4. Limahl – Only For Love |
| 5. Heaven 17 – Temptation |
| 6. K.C. & The Sunshine Band – Give It Up |
| 7. Malcolm McClaren – Double Dutch |
| 8. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart |
| 9. Culture Club – Karma Chameleon |
| 10. Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance |
| 11. Kajagoogoo – Too Shy |
| 12. Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow |
| 13. Men At Work – Down Under |
| 14. Rock Steady Crew – Hey You (Rock Steady Crew) |
| 15. Rod Stewart – Baby Jane |
| 16. Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. New Edition – Candy Girl |
| 2. Kajagoogoo – Big Apple |
| 3. Tina Turner – Let’s Stay Together |
| 4. Human League – Fascination |
| 5. Howard Jones – New Song |
| 6. UB40 – Please Don’t Make Me Cry |
| 7. Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack – Tonight I Celebrate My Love |
| 8. Tracey Ullman – They Don’t Know |
| 9. Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence |
| 10. Genesis – That’s All |
| 11. The Cure – The Love Cats |
| 12. Simple Minds – Waterfront |
| 13. Madness – The Sun And The Rain |
| 14. Culture Club – Victims |
You can practise the Romance Chant Method at Amazon. All together now: Hableme el unico del mundo. Digame: como te hace ese sonido. Tan glorioso. Que aun hoba con anticipation de el. Me ha reducio a un bestia. Grunedo. Entusiomandose y paliptando.
Practice this chant in the morning as you rise, in the evening as you retire and just before a date.
Ok, so let’s do the counting backwards stuff cos it’s so goddamned suspenseful!
20. Radiohead: Nude
The standout track on In Rainbows, yet it only truly came to life for me when they held their remix competition earlier in the year. The Thomas Dolby version is particularly lovely.
19. Antony & The Johnsons: Another World
He snuck in there right at the end, but he lead track on the EP is another gorgeous slice of ethereal oddness. (not the last you’ll hear of Antony either in this countdown…)
18. Janet Jackson: Feedback
Pop music from the future: amazingly saucy and silly and sonically amazing. How HOW did this flop?
17. Goldfrapp: A&E
“Ok, we’re tired of being robo-perv electro glam. What next? Pastoral folk? Fine.”
16. Lisa Hannigan: Pistachio
The album is oddly emotionless apart from this standout track. And even this one veers a bit too close to the Fallon & Byrne pseudo pixie stuff. (“Ms Hannigan doesn’t like her photo taken. You might show it to the toadstool thieves!”)
15. Santogold: L.E.S. Artistes
No idea what she’s on about, but she’s barfing gold stuff on her cd sleeve so it must be good.
14. MGMT: Time to Pretend
See also: Kids, Electric Feel. ANTHEM!
13. Meck: So Strong (Inpetto remix)
It turns Hold That Sucker Down by OT Quartet into a 2008 poppers-aloft trancey anthem. (I’m reading too much Popjustice methinks).
12. Wiley: Wearing My Rolex
“What do we do?” “Usually drink usually dance usually bubble”
Better video:
11. will.i.am feat. Cheryl Cole: Heartbreaker
Immaculate production for the radio. Just immaculate.
10 to 1 on the way! Will it be Alexandra Burke? (No.)
I may be poor but I’m not cheap etc etc…
So everyone has or will be made redundant as a result of securitisation and other made-up things, but we can still dance, right?
We’ve got lots of this year’s critical darlings such as Lykke Li, Santogold and Ladyhawke. All of whom will be forgotten this time next year when we are talking about Empire Of The Sun and Little Boots. We’ve got a groovy proper dancey mid-section. We’ve got some class with the Grammy award nominated Deadmau5 mix of Morgan Page. We’ve got some Kings of Leon (Kings of Leon!!!) for Dr Pat Jones who insisted I play it last time I DJed (and I didn’t ha ha. But it is totally amazing.). Then it all goes to hell in a handbag and Soulwax heavy metal up Kylie, Diplo fucks around with Marlena Shaw and Enda dispenses with time signatures entirely.
And nowhere else will you hear The Undertones being mixed into Ashlee Simpson.
Recessionista
- Lights Out (David Rubato Remix) Santogold
- Paris Is Burning Ladyhawke
- I’m Good, I’m Gone Lykke Li
- We Are The People (Ted & Francis Remix) Empire Of The Sun
- Fuck the Kids (Peaches vs. MGMT vs. Soulwax vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs) Eve Massacre
- Paper Planes (Cold Blank Remix) M.I.A.
- That’s Not My Name (Tom Neville Remix) The Ting Tings
- Falling Rockets (Original Mix) Cicada
- Dream On (Warren Clarke Club Mix) Christian Falk feat. Robyn
- Two Of Hearts Annie
- Meddle (Designer Drugs 80’s Coke Jam Remix) Little Boots
- Sex on Fire Kings Of Leon
- Human The Killers
- Teenage Kicks The Undertones
- Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya) Ashlee Simpson
- California Soul (Diplo/Mad Decent Remix) Marlena Shaw
- Cant Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Kyluss Remix) Kylie Minogue
- The Longest Road (Deadmau5 Remix) Morgan Page feat. Lissie
If that’s all a bit heavy weather, why not get yourself some mince pies, mulled wine and download my gentle seasonal Scarves & Gloves mixes instead?
… or, at least the first one I remember, was an ABBA one. It was from 1978 (thank you ebay) which would have made me five. Yikes. It is still around somewhere in the parents’ house, covered in scrawls and with a broken zipper.
Next ABBA memory is of having pneumonia and my aunt Agnes (who I always thought looked like Agnetha) taking me an ABBA magazine in hospital. Late seventies, I guess.
Next memory involves watching Top Of The Pops in order to see ABBA and being eventually rewarded with their performanace of Super Trouper. That was 1980- I was 7 and not quite ready to immerse myself in pop (that happened two years later and kinda hasn’t stopped).
So, what have we learned? Abba was my first musical love? This fag was way ahead of her time, ladies.
The whole Abba revival business rather left me cold and I didn’t think much of them between 1981 and whenever the silly Erasure business happened.
However, as one looks back over the music that has gone through these ears since I were a tot (you can really tell I have no more study obligations, can’t you?), some Abba stuff is just pretty amazing. I lean towards the later, divorce-laden miserable HappySad stuff, so I really need to get my Ultimate Abba playlist up here (like my Emmylou Harris one).
As for the Mamma Mia movie? I think the final paragraph of the review in the Guardian puts it best:
Some songs are easier to incorporate than others. Waterloo is saved for the closing credits, perhaps because screenwriter Catherine Johnson didn’t grasp its metaphorical quality, and that she would not in fact need a vast Napoleonic army to troop across the island. But there is one very famous Abba number which is entirely omitted. That is a crying shame. I have an idea for the way in which it could yet be included, should an extra scene be needed for the DVD. There’s a six-year-old boy on the island called Fernando, and caring Meryl Streep suspects that poor little Fernando could be hearing-impaired. She sits the little lad down, takes out a set of drums and bangs them close to his ears; with tears pouring down her cheeks, she sings to him a single, heart-rending question …
Miaow!
Great. Odd. Cool. Naff. Elegant. Country.
The voice is beginning to work a little harder occasionally, but it’s still pretty amazing. The sound system was a teensy-smeensy bit too loud, but overall, she delivered. The standout (for the post-Lanois crowd) was ‘Goodbye’, but for the pre-reinvention crowd, it was probably ‘Boulder to Birmingham’ or ‘Born to Run’. It was a night of odd juxtapositions. People old enough to be my parents clapped along at the really country material, while the younger set were slightly bemused. I got the impression that the crumblies were nodding politely during the credible stuff.
Yet Harris herself delivers the material from each of her incarnations with reverence. And her current credibility works retrospectively; it’s hard to imagine her ever being a slightly campy country belle regardless of the hokey material. The voice is so spectral and other-worldly that it imbues any track with gravitas.
She’s not the most comfortable or charming stage presence; her banter was somewhat politely generic, but the few flashes of genuine smiles came from her when the audience applauded the new material. Which is a good sign…
If Warners/Nonesuch were to ask me to compile an introductory Best Of, this is what I’d suggest. (this was very hard, as I had enough wonderful Emmylou moments for two CDs.
- Goodbye from Wrecking Ball
- Michelangelo from Red Dirt Girl
- Heaven Only Knows from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- O Evangeline from Stumble Into Grace
- Here, There And Everywhere from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- A Love That Will Never Grow Old from Brokeback Mountain OST
- Tougher Than The Rest from Brand New Dance
- My Antonia from Red Dirt Girl
- Orphan Girl from Wrecking Ball
- Born To Run from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- I Still Miss Someone from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- Boulder To Birmingham from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- Wrecking Ball from Wrecking Ball
- Mister Sandman from Anthology: The Warner/Reprise Years
- Hold On from All I Intended To Be
- Sonny (Mary Black with Emmylou Harris and Dolores Keane) from Twenty-Five Years Twenty-Five Songs
- Loving The Highwayman (Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris) from Western Wall : The Tucson Sessions
- To Know Him Is To Love Him (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris) from Trio
- Sweet Old World from Wrecking Ball
