hahaha, just kidding.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:06 (twelve years ago) link
and as much as i love new order - and boy did i ever love new order - i'm not gonna make a huge case for their rhyme schemes or vocal prowess.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:07 (twelve years ago) link
what is is with 30+ ilxors and New Order
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:08 (twelve years ago) link
what is it with 30+ people and the printing press
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:09 (twelve years ago) link
well, you know, joy division/new order. i was a child of the 80's. they kept me going. JD probably still my 2nd fave band of all time.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:10 (twelve years ago) link
and yr fave?
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:11 (twelve years ago) link
bananarama!
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:13 (twelve years ago) link
classic algerian goalkeeper
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:14 (twelve years ago) link
Bananarama recorded some fantastic singles!
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:15 (twelve years ago) link
i own 30 bananarama singles and lps on vinyl. at least. but no, first would be black sabbath. then joy division. then felt. then whatever.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:16 (twelve years ago) link
LOL
― nerve_pylon, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:17 (twelve years ago) link
actually, FB3/Bananarama would be near the top for me too. bow wow wow as well. all top twenty in my book.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:18 (twelve years ago) link
you even like S/A/W era Bananarama? That's when I went off them.
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:21 (twelve years ago) link
"I Heard a Rumour" is fantastic.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:24 (twelve years ago) link
would like to say the things judith has said in this thread are super great
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:31 (twelve years ago) link
what abt wang chung
― ⚓ (gr8080), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:33 (twelve years ago) link
Re. Al Stewart + Neil Tennant equation, am listening to "On the Border" right now and wondering if Neil Tennant did not have a little Al Stewart in him anyway?
― timellison, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:44 (twelve years ago) link
"wondering if Neil Tennant did not have a little Al Stewart in him anyway?"
those are just rumors.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:53 (twelve years ago) link
Year of the Cat has Spanish guitar instead of saxophone.
― timellison, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
Oh wait, there's sax too!
― timellison, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 01:57 (twelve years ago) link
Co-written by Peter Wood, "Year of the Cat" is a narrative song written in the second person whose protagonist is a tourist in an exotic market where a mysterious silk-clad woman appears to carry him away for a gauzy romantic adventure.
― timellison, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 02:14 (twelve years ago) link
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 02:19 (twelve years ago) link
"These days," she says, "I feel modern life just like a river runnin' thru
― timellison, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 02:43 (twelve years ago) link
I listened to "Time Passages" ten minutes ago!
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 02:45 (twelve years ago) link
more like gayzy romantic adventure.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 03:06 (twelve years ago) link
Hey guys, both these albums are alright, but we should really be having a 500 post argument about whether On a Mission or 4 is better instead.
― lag∞n affiliated (The Reverend), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 03:14 (twelve years ago) link
that's easy
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 03:15 (twelve years ago) link
"Sounds, Smash Hits, Melody Maker, NME... all sounds like a dream to me..." is like some weird inversion of what Kevin Rowland's doing on Too-Rye-Ay; Rowland's literally singing about being in the band, on stage performing or writing / jamming / creating the song, exhorting the musicians to find something pure, etc etc, and Bejar's fantasising, watching bands (in his imagination, based on the music press), wondering what it's like. Perhaps.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:09 (twelve years ago) link
That's an interesting comparison - Bejar to Neil Tennant / Kevin Rowland to Geno Washington
― Laughing Gravy (dog latin), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:13 (twelve years ago) link
Bejar's also writing very much from the perspective of someone who is NOT a famous successful mega rich musician; he's not chasing cocaine in the back rooms of the world, nor, I suspect, has he ever - he's a low level indie musician who's been plugging away for 15 years on idiosyncratic records which are acclaimed but which have never crossed over. Whereas Rowland actually was as successful as the people he idolised, if not even more successful in some ways.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:27 (twelve years ago) link
new pornographers have crossed over, no? they play them on all those npr-ish radio stations. sales-wise, they aren't nearly as big, but they seem to have an audience beyond indie-rock.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:29 (twelve years ago) link
"Whereas Rowland actually was as successful as the people he idolised"
one-hit wonder in the states. but remembered fondly for that one hit. NOBODY here knows the name of the singer from dexy's.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:30 (twelve years ago) link
i've certainly never seen a low level indie musician chasing cocaine
― dayove cool (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:30 (twelve years ago) link
yeah even in the UK Kevin is idolised more than genuinely massive
― dayove cool (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:31 (twelve years ago) link
OK, maybe Rowland's not famous as an individual, but Eileen and Geno were MASSIVE hits, both #1 in the UK, and Eileen #1 in the US too; Dexys sold a LOT of records. I'd wager as many as Geno Washington and then some.
And yes, low-level indie musicians can be found chasing cocaine, of course, but I get the sense that Bejar's more writing about the kind of people who fly to gigs on learjets than half a squiff in the toilets of Camden Electric Ballroom.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:38 (twelve years ago) link
xxpost But then he was idolising all these Northern Soul artists who probably didn't make a huge mark in the US and only had a narrow cult following in the UK. Not that that's important.
― Laughing Gravy (dog latin), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:43 (twelve years ago) link
"Together is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band The New Pornographers. It was released on May 4, 2010[1] and debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200."
that's pretty good! not arcade fire good, probably, but good.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:44 (twelve years ago) link
even i bought the 45 of come on eileen. that's how huge it was.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:46 (twelve years ago) link
They played "Come On Eileen" at my teen dance club on "progressive night" and all the skinheads would do their weird little dance in a circle.
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:47 (twelve years ago) link
definitely heard it a bunch on college radio at the time before it got huge. like madonna.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:48 (twelve years ago) link
Did the Pet Shop Boys live glamorous playboy lifestyles or just fantasize about this? I seem to imagine them as pretty dour people who always carry a macintosh, but I think I remember Tennant saying in an interview that a lot of his music was inspired by a wish to live the Studio 54 lifestyle but never having the chance to. So this is an imaginary culture being sold back and forth across the Atlantic from decade to decade.
― Laughing Gravy (dog latin), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:51 (twelve years ago) link
Tennant and Lowe said about twenty years ago that the stereotypes are "largely true." Tennant's apt to stay in with a glass of wine and a Shostakovich CD while Lowe clubs a few nights a week. They're older now though.
Tennant is really a folkie in a not-so-good disguise.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 14:59 (twelve years ago) link
Bejar's not idolising Tennant. He's idolising Ferry, and Screamadelica. These are who he's name checking. We need Mark S to bring the "sounds like" vs "influence" slapdown.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
dour people who always carry a macintosh
Usually dour people I see are carrying Dell laptops.
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 20:41 (twelve years ago) link
lowe - "i'm a mac"tennant - "i'm a pc"
― dave coolier (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
lol
I don't think I can answer this poll because my favorite song literally changes with every listen.
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 20:52 (twelve years ago) link
Oops. I thought this was the other Kaputt one.
from deep sea skiving to screamadelica. oh england...so much to answer for.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 21:08 (twelve years ago) link
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, February 8, 2012 12:35 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
and new order. are we really content saying that bejar is "idolizing" these artists and sounds, though? i get the impression that he's using 80s signifiers as a shorthand for the "cinematic" superficiality that ultimately alienates the narrator. this interpretation seems to follow from what judith described earlier: emptiness and longing reflecting emptiness and longing.
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Wednesday, 8 February 2012 21:18 (twelve years ago) link
i get the impression that he's using 80s signifiers as a shorthand for the "cinematic" superficiality that ultimately alienates the narrator. this interpretation seems to follow from what judith described earlier: emptiness and longing reflecting emptiness and longing.
"superficiality that ultimately alienates the narrator" is accurate yet too negative a spin on the vibe at work, I think.
I feel it's more akin to, if you're single or you've just broken up or whatevs, romantic films with happy endings making you as sad those with unhappy endings (lol this makes me think of Jewel's "You Were Meant For Me").
It's not the "emptiness" of the desire that gets the narrator down so much as the impossibility of bringing it to life.
I know there have been times in my life when I've listened to, say, Hats, and I've felt that way, the impossible swell of emotions didn't same fake but it seemed sharply otherworldly, a plenitude in the music that threw into relief a lack in life.
So in a way Kaputt is like listening to someone listening to Hats.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 21:57 (twelve years ago) link