sigue sigue sputnik - love missile f1-11

sigue sigue sputnik - love missile F1-11

do you remember where you were when you bought each record you own? well, neither do i. but some of my records i distinctly remember: sigue sigue sputnik was found at lou’s records in encinitas, california, during one of the rare visits my then-idaho sister made to (my) san diego. the record was playing in the store, and i lit up immediately. idaho sister looked over in my direction, knowing that this would be the sort of record that would provoke that response in me.

i didn’t follow SSS much further than that first record, in spite of their pedigree, which crossed generation X, the clash, giorgio moroder, and others.

bow wow wow - do you wanna hold me

heard this one as i was walking the monsters past the dog wash this afternoon (no pun taken).

europeans - animal song

listening to the radio in the 80's was fun and exciting. but making videos sure was simple, eh?

blondie - the dream's lost on me

country-inspired track from the "no exit" album. going to see them in concert again in about 3 weeks, even though it means driving two hours each way on a worknight. san diego...7th largest city in the US, but so many acts don't make their way down here.

patrick wolf - together

stringy pop song, all the while sounding moroder-esque.

Alone, again in Paris,
Travel drained, I write to you.
You've been on my mind,
Cold days, long nights.

A rooftop in Berlin,
I call, confess the state I'm in.
These cities, this view,
I see nothing without you.

And I can do this alone,
But we can do this so much better,
Together, together, together.

perfectly mopey sentiment that ultimately uplifts.

OMD - crush

continuing my re-obsession with stephen hague...



introductory video to OMD’s album, crush, which was produced by stephen hague. hague features fairly prominently in this video, as well, which is nice…most times, the producer gets as much as a “thanks” in album liner notes, and that’s about it.

for the record, crush was the first of OMD’s albums that didn’t really work for me as a whole, but had so many real nice moments, and one of my favorite singles of theirs, “so in love.”

(finally: could paul and andy be anymore adorable together, seriously?)

waylayers - like we used to

a new favorite band, Waylayers , are releasing weekly videos of new material. so far, they've all been terrific, but today's is really, really good.

new order - regret

having recently fallen into reobsession with stephen hague, new order's "regret" popped up. a welcome diversion, anytime.

ssion - blonde with u

doin poppers on a treadmill, goddamn i love LA

creature - so high

this song will be the record-buying highlight of 2011.



produced by stephen hague, super producer of some of the 80's greatest records, including OMD, new order, and pet shop boys.

this...or this?

this...



...or this?

monarchy video

another new video from monarchy:



fast becoming a huge favorite of mine.

the drums return

the drums are back...



their's was one of my favorite albums from 2010.

monarchy - around the sun

haven't posted about these guys in a long time, but monarchy's album, around the sun was finally released today. it'sa collection of 70's funk, mixed with spacey electronics and new wave pop. and the almost melodramatic vocals actually give some heft to the instrumentals, which might otherwise sound derivative of those older styles. (by now you must know how much i love new things that sound 30 years old.)

highly recommended. buy this.


the failure of not waiting out anticipation: last year, i'd downloaded what was labeled as the monarchy album...and it was, indeed a collection of their recordings, but the collection as a whole just wasn't as good as many of the songs that were on it. it kind of discouraged me about them, even though i really, really like so many of their songs.

but whatever i downloaded last year, didn't end up being their album, after all. and the collection that came out today restores my faith.

blondie live session

blondie in a live session, doing some of their hits, new stuff, and a cover of the beatles, "please please me", which is pretty awesome.

yes, i think i can!

i'm not always the biggest fan of this show, but this particular routine is my favorite of all time. (unfortunately, it was good enough to get this couple in the bottom three this week.)

peter murphy - i spit roses

it's been fairly forever since i heard anything from peter murphy. well, since "cuts you up", which was over 20 years ago.



i like this well enough to go on a youtube hunt now to find out what i've missed in the past couple of decades...

human league - open your heart

30 years later, i still consider this as one of my favorite records. records like this make it difficult for any band to live up to their fans' expectations.

spoons - nova heart

wasn't made aware of this band / track until the very late 1990's, and it made me wish i could relive the 1980's all over again.



how can we (in the US) be so close to canada, yet so unaware of what they have (had)?

blondie - mother repost

the video i attempted to post last week, blondie's new single, "mother":



the more i watch, the more i like. and i've watched a lot.

when's the last time the word, "whither", appeared as a lyric in a pop song? (i accept that i may be misinterpreting the line, "mother's left the building, whither [or, with her] missing children".)