last.fm profile

this illustrates the top played bands in my listening history on last.fm. absolutely no surprises here, i suppose.

electricity

e: pet shop boys - electricity



maybe my seventh favorite pet shop track of all time?

Call it performance, call it art
I call it disaster if the tapes don't start

pet shop boys - the most incredible thing

the boys have written a ballet, which is premiering next month (already)! i love it when artists don't hint out about a project several months in advance, because the WAITING and the INEVITABLE DELAYS are so unbearable.

here's the deal:

press release

video of the project, with snippets of music that sound really, really good:

pet shop boys: ballet album coming

this sounds intriguing...

http://thequietus.com/articles/05624-news-pet-shop-boys-to-release-ballet-album

Messrs Tennant and Lowe said: "This is a very exciting project to be part of. In the past we have written dance music so to write music for a ballet seems like a logical development. Also we have always been fascinated by giving our music a theatrical context."

 that last sentence is masterful in its understatement.

music is no fun

music is no fun anymore.

you wouldn't know it today, but just 10 or 15 years ago, collecting music -- specifically records -- was fun. it was a hobby, and it took a significant amount of effort and funding.

now music...well, they can't give it away.

it's not because music is no good anymore. i'd argue that pop music has never been as good as it is today. there's seemingly no limit to what can be released, no limit to the number of artists or tracks that can get heard, and any genre can attain a respectable following, thanks to social networking being integrated into publishing and retail outlets.

but all that might cause the no-fun, too.

because it used to be that we'd learn of a new band or a new song in one of three ways: on the radio, on tv, or a chance overhearing at a record store. we tended to hear a lot of the same thing from radio and tv (whoever was popular in one, would be in another), and so coming across something a little outside mainstream pop or rock was pretty thrilling.

finding that something often took some research: if the radio didn't announce after the track played, you ended up asking around, humming or singing what you remember of the song to your friends and associates. then you'd scribble down the artist or title, and run to the record store before you lost the scrap of paper. the clerk would have no idea who you were asking about, so you'd go searching the tracks and not find it. off to the newsstand to read billboard charts, or browse a music or record collector's magazine, hoping to find an article that mentioned your new discovery.

take an example: pet shop boys' "euroboy". the track was rumored to exist for several months, but you probably didn't really know anybody who heard it directly, let alone had a copy....so the track remained just out of reach, until PSB released it on a B-side CD collection. and you were thrilled to finally have it, own it, ready to play whenever you wanted.



if by chance you could locate the physical record of an unreleased song, you handed over your wad of crumpled bills to the not-helpful clerk and drove home at 80 miles an hour eagerly anticipating the moments...

...the moments of slicing the cellophane wrap off the album cover...

...carefully bowing the sleeve just a bit so there was no chance of the virgin vinyl from getting scratched by microscopic dust particles inside the packaging...

...gently-oh-so-gently lining up the record with the turntable spindle, keeping the record in a perfectly horizontal position so no edge would hit the turntable before the other...

...bringing the arm and stylus over the record and slowly lowering it into position just off the first groove...

...waiting for that dull PLOP when the needle found the groove, which was also a signal for how high the volume was...

...and finally hearing the opening chords or whatever of the song you've worked so hard to find.

rapture.

that was owning music. you had a physical property in your hands that you could read, listen to, stare at, and display proudly to your friends.

today, holy-moly, music is being marketed everywhere by everyone: radio, tv, blogs, phone carriers, GAP, rev fred phelps...everyone! finding a song of which you only heard a snippet can be pretty easy: google the lyrics, hold your shazam-enabled iphone next to the speaker, etc.

and then instantly download it. nobody will ever know you have it; the artwork won't catch your eye as you walk past your hi-fi; and technically, you can't share it with anyone without the threat of a lawsuit, even though there's nothing THERE.

where's the fun in that?

but old habits die hard. when i used to spend weekend nights (and paychecks) combing record store racks, i now scan music blogs instead. youtube has become my best friend with whom i can reminisce over long-gone tv appearances of my favorite bands. i join fan clubs for a few weeks or years (or a few minutes) just to feel like i know everything i need to know about my latest obsession. and i'll be content for a few days...but the obsession generally doesn't last, because it was too effortless. i haven't earned it. so the hunt begins again the next week when i resume scanning to find my new latest obsession.

still...i share with you what i find most obsessive from one week to the next. i hope it thrills you for at least the 3 and a half minutes it thrilled me.

jealousy

dear project leader:

let's talk pet shop boys. the track, "jealousy" is a fine third single from their finest album, behaviour. lyrics that tell the story of crazystalkerobsession love, in an arrangement ending with an appropriately huge orchestral meltdown. 

the track also served as the anchor of an end-of-album trilogy: "nervously", "end of the world", and "jealousy". really, the whole album is a fine piece; but taking the last three tracks in one listen is the experience that sells.

i remember the drive home from the record store after purchasing the CD single, i popped it into the player with the volume way up, and the freeway melted away. i still feel that, almost 20 years later.

i wish i'd never met you

or that i could bear 

to let you go

jealousy, pet shop boys

so hard

this alien adores this lyric:

"i'm always hoping you'll be faithful,
but you're not, i suppose;
we've both given up smoking, cuz it's fatal,
so whose matches are those?"

the future

dear project leader:

this alien acknowledges that he named "spaceman", by the killers, as single of the year...but he would argue that "this used to be the future", by pet shop boys and phil oakey places very, very high on the list.

he would perhaps create a new category in the list, for GREATEST OUT OF THE BLUE COLLABORATION for 2009, thus giving "future" someplace for a top spot.

coincidentally, this alien saw human league in concert with "the regeneration tour" in 2008...and was fairly impressed. fingers are crossed for a new single or two from mr oakey and the league.


this used to be the future, pet shop boys and phil oakey

postscript: this alien's husband wonders why he has so much pet shop boys on his player...it is not intentional. this alien suspects pet shop boys tracks regenerate on their own.

old news

dear project leader,

this alien's longtime readers have already seen this...but since i referenced it in the earlier post:

another year-end list: music

dear project leader:

it's near the end of the human's calendar year, so year-end lists appear everywhere. here's a small entry into this custom by this alien:

SINGLE OF THE YEAR: "spaceman" by the killers
cleverly simple sci-fi lyrics, instantly accessible pop tune, great video that starts out weird, but turns into a carnival. it is what pop songs are supposed to look and sound like.

and the public don't dwell on my transmission
cause it wasn't televised

RUNNER UP:

pet shop boys, "pandemonium" (with "can you forgive her" mixed in). this alien cannot stop watching this very, very simple dance video.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: UN by dan black
organic, unique and all electro. every track a winner, with lyrics that instantly create sentimental visuals. this alien hasn't been this in love with an album since cut copy's bright like neon love.

BAND OF THE YEAR: empire of the sun
this alien is impressed with the band's ability to create an entirely new existence in the packaging of their videos, graphics and most of all, music. their sound goes all over the place, like great late-70's AM radio pop music.

this alien only became aware of empire this year, but it turns out they have been big down under since last year. this alien wonders if they will tour in the US soon? if so, i will gladly take on the assignment to report, dear project leader.