Currently listening to...

...the sublime track "Winter" from David Byrne's 1985 soundtrack to "The Knee Plays" which ran in the short vignettes connecting the longer scenes of Robert Wilson’s mega-opera "the CIVIL warS." The song features treated horns to a stately, haunting, elegiac effect. I bought this when it was released in '85 and this song remains echoing in my head.

https://www.davidbyrne.com/

Currently listening to...

Andrew Bayer's awesome track "From The Earth."

From the earth, to the sky, and back again...little rocket, little rocket...

https://inmylastlife.com/

Currently listening to...

...a retro moment of "Pretty In Pink" and "Dumb Waiters" by The Psychedelic Furs. I had a flash of these songs in my mind and got out my old vinyl...

Formed in 1977 as an art rock/punk outfit by lead singer Richard Butler and his brother Tim on bass, The Psychedelic Furs became one of the staples of the 80s music scene. Their first album, the self titled "The Psychedelic Furs" was a marvel both sonically (the small group included a saxophone! I can only think of one other group from that time period to use a saxophone so effectively and that is Romeo Void) and lyrically, with a sharp spartan sound and strange dream-like narratives with recurring motifs of everyday objects.

It was their 1981 sophomore effort, "Talk Talk Talk" that brought them to wider attention with their song "Pretty In Pink" which inspired John Hughes to make a film of the same name. While the song was used in the film, lyricist Richard Butler later said that the film had nothing whatsoever to do with the original intent of the surreal, doom-y lyrics. For this kaleidoscopic portrait of an enigmatic woman and her suitors, the main character Caroline makes her second appearance here after appearing in a song called "India" from their first album. Even after all this time, the song holds up. It sounds like it could have been made today (albeit with some better recording equipment, although I actually really like the lo-fi sound). And the video...well, I watched it on MTV when such a thing existed. I just love the hallucinogenic, Alice-In-Wonderland feel of it.

Caroline laughs, and it's raining all day
She loves to be one of the girls
She lives in the place in the side of our lives
Where nothing is ever put straight

She turns herself 'round
And she smiles and she says
"This is it, that's the end of the joke"
And loses herself in her
Dreaming and sleep, and her
Lovers walk through in their coats
She's...

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

All of her lovers all
Talk of the notes and the
Flowers that they never sent
And wasn't she easy
Isn't she pretty in pink?

The one who insists he was the
First in the line is the
Last to remember her name
He's walking around in this
Dress that she wore
She is gone, but the
Joke's the same

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

Caroline talks to you
Softly sometimes, she says,
"I love you" and "Too much"
She doesn't have anything
You want to steal
Well, nothing you can touch

She waves
She buttons your shirt
The traffic is waiting outside
She hands you this coat
She give you her clothes
These cars collide

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

The fractured, disturbing "Dumb Waiters" is also from "Talk Talk Talk" and in fact, opened the album: side one, song one...a pretty splashy way to begin (a poppy, savage sax line plays against a background of dirge-like noise). It harkens back to the sound of the first album which was subversive, textured, and yes, psychedelic, with Butler's amazing, trademark voice, at once gravelly and reedy. And the video feels like an Andy Warhol/Velvet Underground reference.

Give me all your paper ma
Gimme all your jazz
Give me something that I need
Something I can have
Mrs. London's coming round
She's coming with her son
Gimme all your paper ah
So I can get a gun
She has got it in for me
Yeah I mean it honestly
She's so mean

Give me all your paper ma
So I can buy a train
They just wanna suck you in
To being one of them
Tell her that I'm not in here
Tell her I'm a freak
Tell her that I fall about
Every time I speak
She has got in for me
Yeah I mean it honestly
I just scream

Give me all your paper ma
So I can buy a train
I don't know how I got in here
It's making me insane
Have another cigarette
And have another cigarette
In a room where lovers go
Talking on the telephone
They have go it in for me
Yeah I mean it honestly
They all dream

http://www.thepsychedelicfurs.com/

Currently listening to...

...the ethereal, otherworldy "Waves Become Wings" by This Mortal Coil from the classic debut album "It'll End In Tears" released in 1984. TMC was a kind of "super group" comprising members from many different bands who were all signed to the 4AD label. This song features Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance (previously here, here, and here) on vocals and treated accordion.

http://www.4ad.com/artists/thismortalcoil
http://www.lisagerrard.com/
http://www.deadcandance.com/main/

Currently listening to...

...The Chemical Brothers and their neo-psychedelic sounds of "Dissolve."

http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/

Currently listening to...

...the exquisite, grand, transcendent, cosmically enormous instrumental "Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun" by M83 (Anthony Gonzalez).

http://ilovem83.com/

Currently listening to...

..."Great Spangled Fritillary," a genre-defying classic track by the legendary, sublime, enigmatic, and thoroughly magical Cocteau Twins from their "Echoes In a Shallow Bay" EP from 1985.

http://www.cocteautwins.com/

Currently listening to...

...David Bowie's instrumental electronic song "All Saints" from his groundbreaking album "Low."

As the first third of the Berlin Trilogy, "Low" (produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, with flashes of typical genius from Brian Eno, previously here) was released in 1977, smack in the middle of the disco era. It was an avant-garde, ambient, electronic, and abstract collection of music that stumped even Bowie fans at the time. Upon its re-release on CD, additional bonus material included this track that did not make it to the original release. It actually sounds like it got reworked and became "V-2 Schneider" for his following release, "Heroes."

http://davidbowie.com/

Currently listening to..

...a marvelous version of Kate Bush's haunting song "Watching You Without Me" (from her epic "The Ninth Wave" song cycle) by her bass player Del Palmer.  Regular readers know I adore Kate and went last September to London to see her phenomenal sold out show "Before The Dawn" in which she performed, in its entirety, "The Ninth Wave." If you missed it, read my exploration of the song cycle here and read my review of her stage show here.

Meanwhile, here is Del's lovely take. This song never fails to rip me apart emotionally. Read my review of the song cycle to find out why.

Look closely in the image above--you can see our narrator's glowing "little light" to the right...lost at sea, but soon rescued...

http://www.delpalmer.com/

Currently listening to...

...one of the greatest songs in contemporary music history: "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths. Seriously.
I recall when their first eponymous album was released and the sound of the band and Morrissey's vocals in particular were unlike anything heard before.

This astounding 1985 song, with absolutely devastating lyrics by Morrissey and relentless "psychedelic" guitar riff by Johnny Marr, is best summed up by a review at the time in Melody Maker magazine: "The majestic ease of Morrissey's melancholic vocals are tinted with vitriol, as they move through vistas of misery with plaintive spirals around the pulse of Johnny Marr's vibrato guitar. The string's muted strains conjure wistful signs that bridge the schism between crass sentimentality and callous detachment. Each repeated phrase intensifies the hypnotic waves, with results that outflank anything since [their previous song] 'This Charming Man'. Catharsis has rarely been tinged with so much regret, and shared with so much crystalline purity."

I agree. Raw. Hypnotic. Unflinching in its unadorned view of pathos.
See if you agree too.

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of the nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

There's a club
If you'd like to go
You could meet somebody
Who really loves you

So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry and you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen now
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See, I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

It is worth noting that this video was created by their label at the time, Sire (part of Warner Bros.), without any input from the band who despised the final product. While not ideal, it is nice to see early footage of The Smiths.

Currently listening to...

"Rock Your Body Rock" by Ferry Corsten. This little gem just popped up on my iTunes playlist after a long absence. What a great song: buzzy, electric, anthemic, an amped up party song, perfect for summer!

http://www.ferrycorsten.com/

Currently listening to...

...the British act Hot Chocolate perform "Every 1's A Winner." Wow, this song really holds up after all these years. It came out in 1978 (I bought the 45 the day I heard it on the radio--oops, sorry, a "45" was a 7" vinyl record for those born too recently), and although it was played in discos, it was not really a disco song. It is a strange confluence of genres: disco with its chilly synth texture in the background, funk with its bass line and vocals by lead singer and songwriter Errol Brown, soul with its chorus of fantastic black back-up singers, and rock and roll with its blistering--and absolutely genius--guitar riff played by Harvey Hinsley using a Roland GR-500 which gives it that crispy, buzzing quality. Take a listen and get your groove on, kids...

Hot Chocolate broke up but reformed with a different lead singer.
http://www.hot-chocolate.co.uk/

Here is Errol Brown's site:
http://www.errolbrown.com/

Currently listening to...

...the historically important "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat, from their groundbreaking album "Age of Consent." It's fascinating sometimes what pops up on my playlist... this is a song I have not heard in a very long time (I guess my iTunes just passes on certain songs, playing them only once in a long while).

Released in 1984, "Smalltown Boy" became an anthem for LGBT rights during that time. It addresses issues of homophobia, societal and familial rejection, bullying, and physical and emotional abuse. Although I was not rejected by my own family, thankfully, I was the target of years of bullying and physical assaults, so this song occupied and still occupies a special place in my heart. I remember the first time I heard it: I was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley waiting for Simple Minds to perform. It really struck me, since I had never really heard a song about me or my own experiences. It was a powerful moment. Bronski Beat recognized me, and validated the pain and confusion.

Thematically, it reminds me so much of the song "Flawless (Go To The City)" by George Michael in which he urges gay men and women to get out of their small towns and go to the city where a better life awaits (previously here). Or at least a more tolerant life, one that is not filled with daily hatred and attacks. There is a very long history indeed of gay men and women leaving small towns and small-minded areas for metropolitan areas where they are accepted. Gay ghettoes arose in cities precisely because of their proximity to centers of culture, literature, and the arts. It's a sad, heartbreaking reality for many men and women but often one must leave one's place of creation because it has turned into a place of destruction. For one's own safety, both mentally and physically, sometimes the best option is to escape.

Musically, the song is from a 1980s genre known as "synthpop," a term meaning music that was created solely or primarily by synthesizers or electronic keyboards, which in turn grew out of a 1970s electronic sound from Europe and groups like Kraftwerk. Groups like Depeche Mode, A Flock of Seagulls, and The Human League were part of this 80s sound. But despite the fact that "disco" had died a painful death just a few years earlier, Bronski Beat combined the synthpop sound with serious dance beats and a male falsetto, which was a direct and deliberate tribute to gay disco acts singing in falsetto, particularly the legendary Sylvester.

The video for the song offers a tiny ray of hope in that it paints a picture not quite as bleak as the lyrics. Our narrator, lead singer Jimmy Sommerville, has friends (fellow band members Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek), and his mom is upset to see him leave home. At least that is more than what some terrified gay youth have when they are kicked out of their homes with nothing, thanks to fearful, ignorant, often self-righteous "Christian" families.

You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face

Mother will never understand
Why you had to leave
But the answers you seek
Will never be found at home
The love that you need
Will never be found at home

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.

Pushed around and kicked around
Always a lonely boy
You were the one
That they'd talk about around town
As they put you down

And as hard as they would try
They'd hurt to make you cry
But you never cried to them
Just to your soul
No you never cried to them
Just to your soul

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.

Cry, boy, cry...

You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face

Currently listening to...

...the miraculous "Satellite Anthem Icarus" by the amazing Boards of Canada. Wow...

http://www.boardsofcanada.com/

Currently listening to...

..."Chromakey Dreamcoat" by Boards of Canada, from their brilliant 2005 release "Campfire Headphase." It is a hot, hot day here in N. CA and this hazy, lazy, warped sound is perfect.

http://www.boardsofcanada.com/

Currently listeing to...

...a fantastic, funky 80s flashback: "Love Shadow" by a little-known, underrated band called Fashiøn.

I'm always happy when they pop up on my playlist. Their tone was a unique mix of funk, dance, and an electronic sound that was theirs alone. Usually, one can tell music from the 80s, but I feel this sounds fresh and unique even now.

Listen to this next song, "You Only Left Your Picture" with its dark, dusky mood and interesting marimba texture...

Currently listening to...

...the old-school House music sound of "Turn Me Out" by Russ Chimes. This is the kind of song I would have heard on the dance floor, back in my clubbing days, that would have sent me running to the DJ booth yelling, "WHAT IS THIS? I HAVE TO HAVE IT!"

http://www.russchimes.com/

Currently listening to...

...the arresting, desperate "The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)" by Snow Patrol. There is an urgent, pleading current that seems to careen toward inevitable loss that rips me up and makes me put this on repeat, as if it allows one to see ahead to the end, and one finally, regrettably, gloriously understands that there is no other ending to be had. We know how it ends: as Rumi said, "Enough of these phrases/ Conceit and metaphors/ I want burning, burning, burning." Do you know what I mean? Do you know what this song means? Do you know what your song means? It's important that you do...

What if this storm ends?
And I don't see you
As you are now
Ever again

The perfect halo
Of gold hair and lightning
Sets you off against
The planet's last dance

Just for a minute
The silver forked sky
Lit you up like a star
That I will follow

Now it's found us
Like I have found you
I don't want to run
Just overwhelm me

What if this storm ends?
And leaves us nothing
Except a memory
A distant echo

I want pinned down
I want unsettled
Rattle cage after cage
Until my blood boils

I want to see you
As you are now
Every single day
That I am living

Painted in flames
All peeling thunder
Be the lightning in me
That strikes relentless

http://www.snowpatrol.com/

Currently listening to...

... the classic "Love Is A Stranger" from Eurythmics' first domestic release "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" THIRTY YEARS AGO! Amazing song and amazing lyrics... and Annie is so gorgeous in the amazing video.

Love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in and drive you far away
Love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in and drive you far away

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

Love is a danger of a different kind
To take you away and leave you far behind
And love, love, love is a dangerous drug
You have to receive it and you still can't get enough of the stuff

It's savage and it's cruel and it shines like destruction
Comes in like a flood and it seems like religion
It's noble and it's brutal, it distorts and deranges
And it wrenches you up and you're left like a zombie

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

It's gilt-edged, glamorous and sleek by design
You know it's jealous by nature, false and unkind
It's hard and restrained and it's totally cool
It touches and it teases as you stumble in the debris

And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so, it's an obsession

http://www.eurythmics.me.uk/
http://www.annielennox.com/
http://www.davestewart.com/

Currenlty listening to...

... "New Day" by The Present Moment. I love me some synth-pop and this recent band from L.A. honors the legacy of Depeche Mode.

http://thepresentmoment.bandcamp.com/


And here is the inspiration: