November 3, 2009
Journey - Escape (1981)
Other than being a rock classic and deserving of an explicit mention for that reason alone, this song has just kept popping up since the first reminder a few months ago. So I’m taking it as a sign. Here’s the chronology:
1. TOBI put it on a most excellent spotify playlist for me, which I was listening to at work one day. I just broke into a massive 80s head-bop at my desk with an accompanying power-pout when it came on. Luckily no one saw.
2. On the PA a couple of weeks later at The Enterprise, after a gig. I want to say Au Revoir Simone but I’m not 100% sure. Revelation of the inner 80s child to the folks with me (as if the late 90s R&B teen years weren’t enough to deal with…)
3. Popped up the day of Passion Pit and I tweeted about it:
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nishajl Oh man. I’m listening to 80s pop. Sometimes you just want to! 28 Oct 2009 from web
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4. It was the first track that came on over the PA after the fantastic set from Passion Pit at KoKo.
and then…
5. Cheryl Cole’s little protégé (Joe?) sang it on X-Factor rock week.
It’s more than just an uplifting 80s rock anthem… it’s hope disguised as a keyboard riff.
Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
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September 15, 2009
This reminder came up as part of a TOBI playlist a couple of months back…and again last week from Jane at You the DJ. She mentioned she had chosen a Pixies track to feature in her selected trio of tunes – it turned out to be this one!
Pixies – Where Is My Mind?
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Immediately identifiable hook, distorted guitar, vocals that combine a human-robot hybrid, something that reminds me a bit of a cross between Billy Corgan and Zed from Police Academy, and a slightly eerie choirboy.
It’s been covered by the likes of Placebo, James Blunt and, more recently, Emmy The Great. I also just found this from MC Illy (recorded for a Like A Version session on Australian radio station Triple J – thank you Me And All My Friends blog) and haven’t been able to close my mouth yet. I love it when that happens.
An iconic rock track from their 1988 album Surfer Rosa, “Where Is My Mind?” provided the soundtrack to the cathartic destruction of the final scenes of Fight Club, a movie I love that it seems other people also love – it scored a respectable 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I think I might just have to dig that one out of my VHS collection to watch again…
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August 8, 2009
Public Enemies (2009)
The reason this is coming up today is that I was at Cafe OTO last night with a few folks for an Alessi’s Ark gig – she was excellent, and extremely sweet, as usual – and the second act was a folk guitarist called Rick Tomlinson. He started playing a beautiful solo track which was similar in style to this one…and I was waiting for a vocal to kick in for about 5 minutes before I realised that it most likely wasn’t going to.
20 minutes or so of pure, unadulterated guitar solo. Epic is the only word. I literally felt like I was on my way to the most important gunfight of my life…pistols at dawn versus my life-long enemy somewhere in the Old West. Or at least I would have if I hadn’t been sitting on a sofa in cafe in Dalston.
It reminded me of this:
Otis Taylor – Nasty Letter
A TOBI recommendation, from the soundtrack to the movie ‘Public Enemies’. I think Michael Mann would love Rick.
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July 19, 2009
I hadn’t realised until just now but this track is actually on the soundtrack for ‘Wicker Park’, another movie that I really like but that Rotten Tomatoes users seem to…well…not.
Broken Social Scene – Lover’s Spit
Broken Social Scene
“Atmospheric, dramatic, mellow rock”, is how I would describe this song. And that’s fairly typical of the kind of music I’ve so far heard by the band. They do mix it up, though… check out their MySpace.
I first heard of them a few months back on a TOBI spotify playlist, and then forgot about them…but this song came up again on Friday, dissolving my manic week into a wispy cloud of fuzzy warmth…
There’s a second version, with a female vocal, which is equally beautiful. Velvet as compared to silk:
Broken Social Scene – Lover’s Spit (Redux)
I’ll most definitely be keeping an eye out for news of UK live dates…
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July 10, 2009
I couldn’t mention this man in my last post and not write about the song…
Paolo Nutini – Candy
Photo By Kevin Westenberg
From his second release on Atlantic Records, “Sunny Side Up”, this track was actually a TOBI recommendation a few weeks back but I hadn’t really appreciated its beauty in full until I listened to it again in relation to a little personal project I’m currently working on (no more details or they might realise what I’m talking about relates to them and that wouldn’t be good).
It’s similarly sweet to ‘Last Request’ from his previous album, ‘These Streets’, but has had more of an impact on me because it isn’t a ballad but is still clearly a soulful expression of emotion without being at all cheesy or cringe-worthy. For me, it conjures images of a happy couple dancing at their ‘close family and friends only’ wedding in a small american community. Which is lucky because that’s what the music video happens to be about.
Quickly catching up to ‘Alloway Grove’ as my favourite track of his. Lots on the MySpace.
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July 7, 2009
Placebo - Covers
I hadn’t heard this version until just yesterday (it’s a TOBI pick) – but it’s just as dramatic as the Kate Bush original, only a little less 80s synth, a little more rock. Significantly more chilled than ‘Nancy Boy’ or ‘Pure Morning’ (my favourite Placebo tracks) it adds another dimension to their usual, and much appreciated, glam guitar riffing.
Placebo – Running Up That Hill
They just released new album, ‘Battle for the Sun’ (no audio), in June 09 but this particular track is on ‘Covers’, along with their take on ‘20th Century Boy’ and Depeche Mode classic, ‘I Feel You’.
Placebo will be playing Reading and Leeds festivals this August and then heading off to Continental Europe but are back in December for a London at the o2 Arena.
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May 17, 2009
Emily Haines
When TOBI first sent me this I had no idea of the associations…but I’ve been having a read this morning and, as well as being a deeply soulful singer-songwriter whose voice has infinite depth and layers that will literally make you shudder, Emily Haines is lead singer of Canadian indie band Metric and lyrical collaborator for Broken Social Scene.
All is now clear.
‘Crowd Surf Off a Cliff’ features on the 2006 release ‘Knives Don’t Have Your Back’ and is up on Emily’s MySpace at the moment.
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Posted by nishajl
nishajl Oh man. I’m listening to 80s pop. Sometimes you just want to!
