Suicide & Blondie - Call Me Cheree (Morodertron)

Destroyer & John Foxx- Rome (Neu Los Angeles Remix)

Destroyer - Blue Eyes (Green Eyed Kryptonite Mix)

Let There Be Music

Prefab Sprout will indeed release a new album in early september! "Let´s change the world with music" (not more not less) will be the first PS-album in eight years.


From what I gather the album was actually planned to be the follow-up to "Jordan: The Comeback" from 1990, titled "Earth: The story so far". Apparently the record company was bored by the spiritual tone of the material and shelved it.

Listening to the album opener "Let there be music" it appears that the whole record could have been put into the vaults, waiting for it´s release 20 years later. "Let there be music" is bonafide Prefab Sprout radio-pop (where it will never be played, of course). I am listening to it on endless repeat right now.
So are these actually only demos recorded roughly 20 years ago? It doesn´t really matter! It´s Prefab Sprout, it´s timeless (regardless of a gated snare and Paddy´s Vadder Abraham-beard).



I think the heroes of back in the day should do remixes for this: Frankie Knuckles, Mashall Jefferson, Justin Robertson... oh, I forgot: they were actually giving remix jobs to the Future Sound of London back then.

Ming & Ping

Ming & Ping are identical twin(k)s from Hong Kong and their full on 80´s electro-pop is damned catchy.

Their second album "Causeway Army" was already released in 2007 but it seems they are trying to go for the international market now with a new video clip for "Legends of Nothing". With the right amount of exposure in all the relevant beach-clubs and sangria bars this could become a huge summer-hit.

Meek

The Strange Story of Joe Meek

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Do It Yourself - The Story of Rough Trade

Do yourself a favour and watch this great BBC 4 documentary "Do It Yourself - The Story of Rough Trade", if you haven´t done already.
From its humble beginnings as a small record shop filled with records which owner Geoff Travis had brought back from America, to its rise as a major distribution force of independent music and one of the most influential labels of the 1980s.

It´s especially interesting to follow the rise and fall (and rise) of a couple of devoted people who never wanted to be part of the mainstream music industry but soon found out that they needed hits, "Top of the pops" and binding contracts to sustain their growing business.

It is a whopping 88 minutes, but there are lots of worse things you can waste your time on...

Mbube

"Mbube" is most likely one of the most famous melodies known on this planet. The history behind this haunting Zulu-song, which would later be known throughout the world as "Wimoweh" and/or "The Lion sleeps tonight" is as ramified and mysterious as the jungle it evokes with its chants and wailing, ghostly voice.


Salomon Linda, who conceived the melody one afternoon in South-Africa´s only recording studio in the 1930s, sold all the rights to the owner of the record company for a minimal amount of cash. In return he was "allowed" to work as a packer in the small company. During the decades, several people would take on the song and changed it until it became an enduring mega-seller. I found it quite surprising that the song, which is widely believed to be an ancient African lullaby, was written in the 1930s and that it was transformed by several composers who conveniently forgot to mention Salomon Linda as the original author.

For some downloadable versions of "Mbube/The Lion sleeps tonight" and a short write-up of the story head to Any Major Dude. The complete and riveting history of the song from it´s conception to the long law-suits during the naughties can be read in this fascinating story.

This is the original recording of "Mbube" by Salomon Linda and the Evening Birds.

My Other Voice

Confession: I love The Sparks in theory only!

I adore their style and image, the humour, the irony, their fantastic album covers (esp. "Propaganda" and "Indiscreet") and the influence they had on everything that was good in pop-music during the last (almost) 40 years!
But with the exception of a few songs I can´t really bring myself to listen to them. It bugs me, because I really want to like them, not only because of their hilarious, epic song-titles ("Rock n Roll people in a Disco world", "I thought I told you to wait in the car", "Angst in my pants", "Lighten up Morrissey) but the fact that they are most likely the coolest, most perfect R/Pop band ever!


But then there is "No. 1 in Heaven", the album that fused pop, rock and electronic disco like nothing that was ever done before. An epic in only six songs that explodes with the last song, the title track. My favourite song on the album, and probably my favourite Sparks song is the morbid and experimental "My other voice". This strange, slow and delirious song is placed between the hectic "Beat the clock" and "The No. 1 song in Heaven". It could be considered a bit of a downer and it is probably the strangest song on an already strange album.


I always saw "My other voice" as a sort of Overture for "The No 1 song in heaven". If the latter was the one you´d hear all over in paradise, "My other voice" was the sound you´d hear while dying on the dancefloor, going through a quick purgatory and presto: angel choirs!

Now listen to My Other Voice


There is a backwards hi-hat sequence running throughout the whole song, it dazzles the mind and plays with the listeners perception of time. Elements are added one after another: A clumsy bassline, fluttering, slowed down disco percussion, ethereal voices that grow into an otherworldly crescendo that aims to go higher and higher. Shortly before the voices evaporate into thin air there is something like a demented surf guitar which soon turns out to be a vocoderized voice "humming" a half-conscious melody.


At this point in this experimental flow of ascending sounds and descending melodies the humming voice, as if coming from far away instructs us to "Listen to my other voice". Only then does the relative darkness of the track open up to Russel Maels most angelic voice. But his sweet, yearning voice says words that are more of a threat than a consolation: "You´re so independent but that´s gonna change real soon. With my other voice I can destroy this room. I´ll wrap my voice around you and I drag you everywhere. My other voice."


He then yanks the vocoder back on and gets even more sinister and demonic: You think you´re romantic. Well, I´ll whisper in your ear. I´ll be all you hear for years and years and years. You may be deaf to everything, you wont be deaf to me: My other voice..
The last syllables are pitched so high that the voice drifts off into the atmosphere. Slowly, all instruments fade away until only the backwards hi-hat is all that is left.

I can only imagine the effect this must have had on a crowd of drugged up dancers in Studio 54...

Blofeld Seams

Spy Vibe traces the origins of the stylish Nehru Jacket through 60s pop-culture. I always loved the collar-less shirt that Sean Connery wore in "Dr. No", but in retrospect the Bond-villains were making a much bolder statement by making these "Blofeld seams" a fashion trend for megalomaniacs.

Kuts Thru You

Since yesterday the series of Youtube mash-ups of Israeli musician and artist Kutiman are spreading like wildfire through the net. The original Thru-You-site, where the videos are hosted is currently down, but some people have captured the clips and put them up on Youtube.

Kutiman takes small parts out of Youtube videos of amateur musicians and instrument presentations. He loops them and creates new songs out of the bits and pieces. It´s audio-visual sampling in its purest form and the results are simply amazing! The idea is not new but the artful and musical expertise with which it is done is stunning and very impressive.

"Babylon Band" gives a good impression on how the music and the video works.


"This is what it became", on a reggae tip


"Just a Lady" is just beautiful!


You can watch all seven videos and a short "how-it-was-done"-clip by Kutiman here.

You Make My House Shine

Gee Mr. Tracy was a strange duo from Norwich, UK who had their very own idea of pop-music in the mid of the 1980s.
By 1985, the classic synth/vocal duo was on its way out. Soft Cell, D.A.F., Suicide, Sparks, OMD, had either disbanded, were on indefinite hiatus or were at low-points if their career.
Shortly before the Pet Shop Boys would seal this band model into a lasting time-capsule, Brick Smith and Vince Rogers took no prisoners with their minimal, electro-pop-punk.

At times Gee Mr. Tracy sounded like a parody of Suicide, with their monotonous, skeletal and very cheap sound. "Jet Girl" on their debut (and only) album was like a total piss-take on the Vega/Rev-sound and it could be seen as the missing link between Suicide and Sigue Sigue Sputnik (without the futuristic gadgets, the hi-tech production, the make-up and the hype).
The vocals were often shouted and apparently both band members liked to drink and singing about it.


In their short career as Gee Mr. Tracy (name refers to the "Tracy"-family of "The Thunderbirds") they actually wrote two fine pop-gems: "Permanent Swoon" and "Gee Mr. Tracy - You Make My House Shine", which I always wanted to hear in an updated house-remix.
What´s not to like in a song that has lines such as: "The doorbell plays Miles Davis, The biscuit tins are never empty, the milkman leaves us vodka (we drink it!)" and that starts with a dog barking in Japanese?!

The Annual Brit Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Pop-Excellence Goes To The Pet Shop Boys

A ten-minute medley (or potpourri as we used to say before the war) spawning the 25 year lasting career of the Pet Shop Boys was performed by the band at yesterdays BRIT AWARDS. PSB received an "Outstanding Contribution To Music Award" which justified this career mash-up.

In true PSB-fashion the show was a slightly odd and brittle performance of random imagery, unnecessary ballet, wacky wigs and Lady GaGa. All in all: A great success (minus the GaGa)

08 From 08

Most new and interesting records which were heard at StellaVista Towers during 2008 have their own blog-post here. So, in no particular order, a recap of the tracks and albums that entertained me this year. The links lead to an earlier blog entry which either contains one or two streams or a Youtube-link.


Club 8: With "The Boy who couldn´t stop dreaming", Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård made one of their most restrained and breezy albums. Sun-drenched, fragile, Swedish summer-pop that is almost disappearing into thin air. I actually preferred the earlier "Strangely Beautiful" which was also re-released this year.


Morgan Geist: "Double Night Time" is Geist´s first album after his debut "The Driving Memoirs" from 1997. The whole album is great, but it´s the opener "Detroit" which really stands out for me.









Cut Copy: The first half of "In Ghost Colours" is a superb succession of hit after hit. Especially the album track "Out there on thin ice" with it´s crowd noise and euphoric lines "If that´s what it takes - don´t let it tear us apart - even if it breaks our hearts" is amazing.
The fact that I can still enjoy listening to "Hearts on fire" - after all the hype and the inevitable re-release of Guru Josh´s "Infinity" (which was definitely spawned by the success of Cut Copy) shows that CC really know how to assemble their citation-pop.


Private In fact "My Secret Lover" was already released in 2007, but this stand-out single "We got some breaking up to do" came out this year along with a remix/dub album. Private are from Denmark and have produced the most shamelessly 80s rip-off album in a genre that has many similar artists. If you are not entertained by Private you should leave this site now!


Rex The Dog "The Rex The Dog Show" is part debut album, part compilation of own and commissioned remixes. It is surprisingly nice, despite featuring a mix of the drab The Knife.
The single "Bubblicious" features the best Yazoo/Alison Moyet sample ever. It is certainly no surprise that this appeared along with the Yazoo re-union concerts.


DJ Cole Medina vs Bee Gees "Love you inside out (Pinches Mix)". This blissed out re-edit of the Bee Gees track (from "Spirits Having Flown) was listened to endlessly on my car-trip to Vancouver. Pure magic!




AxUs "Love your Brother (Abacus Rethink Dub)" marked the return of Austin Bascom. With this deep as shit production he proved that he was and is one of the most prolific deep-house producers around.






Ladytron "Velocifero" did still not bring them the desired mass appeal they so crave for.
Still, on the borderline of electro-rock Ladytron are still the best thing around. I always fall for their airport-announcer-vocals. Someone recently said they sound like Nico fronting the Marc Bolan Band. Spot on!

Naked Lynch

Good or popular mash-ups have become quite rare after the scene retreated further into the underground or some producers went on to bigger, more legal things.

In this regard Mashed in Plastic came as a big, surprising bang! The idea to offer a full album mashing the dream-logic of David Lynch and the music of Angelo Badalamenti with other songs to create a consecutive listening experience could have easily turned into nightmare-logic.

There is always a big chunk of ambivalence in Lynch´s films and their reception.
Some say you either love or hate them, but I think this is not true. I´d say you can admire his strong sense for mood and obsessive imagery, be entertained by his craft and perverse meta-surrealism and still be annoyed by all of this at the very same time.


One positive thing about his films that almost everybody can agree on is the great use of music. The main compositions of Angelo Badalamenti and to a certain extent Lynch´s own work form a magical alliance with "borrowed" music and the moving images. (Although I never forgive him for allowing the dreadful Rammstein gaining international acclaim through the "Lost Highway"-Soundtrack)

Back to Mashed in Plastic. The whole project is remarkable for creating something that sounds like an interesting idea that is doomed to fail and turning it into a success on every level. The listening experience can be downloaded for free as a consecutive mix or as a package of individual songs.


Held together by Lynch´s own words, film dialogue and eerie sounds, the whole thing is highly complex, immaculately executed and challenging. As usual in this genre, not every song works perfectly, but when idea, ambition and craft do work, your jaw will drop and somebody might find it next to a severed ear in the front garden.

One should really listen to the whole experience in it´s entirety as it offers much more than it´s individual parts (be they good or bad).

There are a few of the usual acapella-suspects (Beatles, Kylie), some I usually avoid like the plague (Tori Amos) and some obvious from within the Lynch universe.

Highlights are the incredible "I´ll be there in Twin Peaks". Mashing the "Twin Peaks Theme", "Falling" with "I´ll be there" by Jackson 5 and some Leona Lewis. The effect is amazing and fits the season.

I´ll be there in Twin Peaks


Mashed in Plastic is much more than a listening experience. The presentation on the website is outstanding. There is a great mash-up photo to every song, extensive linernotes and -to top it all- there are videos to almost every song! These Youtube-videos will certainly guarantee that this project will receive a receptive audience beyond the mash-up scene.

In a way it is the definite "concept mash-up for grown-ups" and it might as well be the swan song for the genre. Anyway, it will be seen as a classic! Ear This!

Mondo Mini

A vast collection of b/w photos showing the international impact the mini skirt (and other fashion trends of the late 60s and early 70s) had on the look of models, actresses, hookers and everybody else.

Italian Bunnies

Charlotte Rampling

London 1971

Hookers ´70, NYC

Prototype

Someone, Sidney, Summertime

Tina Turner

Ireland 1968

Rocket USA

Many more StellaVista Ultramodels at Sixties Seventies

Pierre Cardin

Somebody in Kansas City Loves Me

It seems this slice of great pop has passed me by this summer.
Sneaky Sound System are from and big in Australia and if we were still living in an era where something like a global summer hit would still have a chance to exist, "Kansas City" would have topped the charts everywhere.

Sneaky Sound System "Kansas City" Filmed in SuperMarionation:

Grounded

"Own a piece of aviation history", that´s the motto of California based custom furniture company Motoart, who make awesome and stylish furniture out of old airplanes.


I think the exhibits speak for themselves and it goes without saying that I want to have the cowlings, the chairs, the sofa, the wall divider and a few tables for my Ballard room. Oh, and the Pan-Am cuff links, please.



Seeing that the cuff links go for $ 220 - all other prices are on demand only - I guess that Ballard room will stay unfurnished for a while.



Click pics to enlarge or go to Motoart

Throwing the Muse

Grace Jones photographed by Chris Cunningham for Dazed. A pin-up for the 40+ set. Also worth reading to keep up with the coming Hurricane: State of Grace in the Guardian.


It appears that Grace and her team are trying to tick all the right (if obvious) boxes this time around.

EDIT: I fear that the "ticking the right boxes" ended with the (proposed) cover design:

A 1000 No 1s in Heaven

This could be the best present for your best friend or best enemy: The Neimann Marcus Christmas Book offers to ship you a vinyl-wave of tsunami-esque proportions. For just $ 275.000.00 (shipping not included) you can become the proud owner of each and every 45 RPM vinyl record that was listed on the Billboard Top 100® Rock and Pop charts from Jan. 1, 1955, through Dec. 31, 1990. Absolutely every disc for 35 years, every No. 100 up to every No. 1. There are some 18,400 records total. Some are even autographed.

Now there are some pretty valuable and great things in there, but I am sure that the amount of not-so-hot-singles must be gigantic!
I really don´t know if this is heaven or hell! In the words of Blixa Bargeld: "How do you listen to this?!"