wolfsheim - it's not too late

this alien has long considered this to be a favorite record (can't say as much for this video interpretation):

RED

this alien really loves the idea of going to the movies on a weekend morning...the whole ritual of it. but when there's nothing showing that we want to see, well, the experience lacks. today was one of those experiences.

we saw RED, the bruce willis feature. i'm sure to forget about this one within the next six hours or so. helen mirren shoots big guns, mary-louise parker was cute, but miscast, and bruce willis was bruce willis. john malkovich might have been fun to see, but the short screen time he had was fairly background noise.

the story...oh, forget it. don't see it.

old geographies

can anyone tell me why a U.S. shopper can't purchase an MP3 music file from the german amazon site? i mean, why this makes any good business sense to anyone: amazon, the music publisher, or the artist?

in what era are music industry decision-makers living?

because i'm a fan, i'm (impatiently) waiting to purchase the new alphaville single, which has been available in germany for a couple weeks now. in the meantime, i found a pirate copy online (with the acoustic b-side). this is the point any casual fan or impulse buyer would give up the wait.

congratulations, music distributor.

Tim Gunn - It Gets Better

this alien wonders how he got through it all so easily, compared to so many others.

Crystal Castles - Not In Love ft. Robert Smith

more noise than anything else...but because it's robert smith, it must be posted.

OMD - sister marie says

new single from OMD, sister marie says. very much in line with enola gay, and stuffed with lots of religious imagery...classic OMD, but new.


Sister Marie Says

OMD | Myspace Video

Mackintosh Braun - Could It Be

this alien loves this song...and so should you





(merci to hype and sick)

The Suburbs - Love Is The Law

in the 80's, love was the law

OMD - history of modern

 

picked up the new OMD album, which i find to be a remarkable comeback after so many years out of the spotlight. though the album certainly has some questionable direction on a few tracks (three of them are just terrible), for the most part, this album fits very easily into a space somewhere between -- and spanning -- architecture and morality, junk culture, and crush. not so much dazzle ships, which would have been way too experimental as a comeback. really, some great stuff here:

1. new babies: new toys: fairly unremarkable opener to the album, but not offensive. more in line with their "john hughes" phase than their earlier releases. move past this track without judging, because it gets a lot better...
   
   
2. if you want it: first single (which had a laughable dance video) is all about heavenly choruses getting interrupted by his lead vocals. it's a decent, accessible pop song, ready for airplay.
   
   
3. history of modern (part 1): here's where the album kicks into gear...taking us back to 1985, keyboards running scales up against the drum machine. more in line with junk culture than later releases, which is a good great place to touch back to.
   
   
4. history of modern (part 2): picking up from the previous track, and all the more thumpy bass and drum machine, and very much in line with architecture and morality.
   
   
5. sometimes: kills the momentum the album just gained. this track is dreadful, as if they found some old moby backing vocals and decided to slander him with it. you will miss nothing by skipping over this completely.
   
   
6. RFWK: back to the good stuff. btw, did we know the band took a gay perspective? here the lead sings "i loved you when" lines to a male figure, with which i have no problem (obvies)...i just didn't know this.
   
   
7. new holy ground: returning to their religious imagery, "new holy ground" is a little more moody, a little more introspective, than prior tracks, a la "joan of arc" before the percussion. nice.
   
   
8. the future, the past, and forever: trying to find their funk, not finding it. another track that doesn't belong.
   
   
9. sister mary says: indulging more in the cliches that they themselves established, (and that's a compliment), the arrangement of "sister mary" makes something of a companion piece to "enola gay" (though not lyrically).
   
   
10. pulse: see "the future, the past, and forever", above. i'm not saying a band who have been out of the spotlight for well over a decade doesn't have a right to put out something unexpected...i'm just saying this isn't the way to do it.
    
    
11. green: toning down "if you want it", above. not a bad track, but works best if associated with the other track.
    
    
12. bondage of fate: you know how some movies seem to have several points at which they could have very successfully ended? this track is something like that...a good ending to the album, that isn't the end. starts as a sleepy bye-bye, but then goes into a short burst of fireworks...and then, back to sleepytime.
    
    
13. the right side?: the real end of the album, and though it's quite long, it's an utterly charming send off.

a big, big recommendation.

meet the mormons

because comments aren't enabled on the youtube site:

your admonition to not engage in bullying and intimidation should be preached from the pulpit, not from a press conference. instead, your congregants get this about the very existence of gay people:

why would heavenly father do that? remember, he is our father.

this is what one of your prophets said regarding those who know they are born differently than what your prophets want them to be.

such statements are absolutely inviting bullying and intimidation. you need to acknowledge the harm of what you preach, and direct your young members to QUALIFIED counselors and organizations, since your company does not have the interest or qualification in helping.

mirrors - hide and seek

really loving this band.

new alphaville!

found this on youtube:



do i find this to be disappointing, a weak attempt? absolutely not...this is brilliant classic alphaville, great big echo-y keyboards and all, and i think i'll be playing this over and over this weekend. this alien is thrilled.

the single will be released mid-october, with a whole big new album to follow in the weeks thereafter.

happiness

regarding HURTS happiness:

i've been posting (in anticipation) about this album for months, all based on how much i love, LOVE, the lead single, "wonderful life".

last week i came across a preview version of the album (thrilled), and having given it a couple listens, now, have the following impressions:

"wonderful life" is still the stand out track from the album. favorite single to pop out in the past several months. too many of the tracks are similar to "wonderful life", with heavy-handed bass and beats (said with admiration), but, applied to what would otherwise be mellow adult-pop songs. some come off a little too...easy-listening...or something.

which is not to say that the album is a loser. just doesn't live up to (what i interpreted as) the promise of "wonderful life". and that's to be expected, i suppose.

other stand-out tracks are "sunday" and "feels better than love", with their string-like arrangement. and there's a duet with kylie minogue, if you like that sort of thing.

i've kind of held the impression that HURTS is like spandau ballet, without the jazzy influences, especially after they released, "blood, tears & gold"...but much of this album is actually more like a-ha, particularly later a-ha (not "take on me").

i still have this on heavy rotation, so my impression may change.

val emmich album leaks

i'm very much looking forward to the new album by val emmich...for the next several days, he's going to leak a song from the album up till the release date. you can listen to them at this link:

http://www.valemmich.com/contest/audioplayer.html

highly recommended...very highly.

terrible

from the "i'm a terrible person" file:

today i was supposed to attend the memorial of a former coworker / friend. i really, really didn't want to go, for two reasons: i hate funerals, don't deal well with them at all; and so many of the former coworkers are people i go out of my way not to associate with.

so about an hour before i should have been getting ready to go, i figured i'd take a quick nap.

and woke up 10 minutes after the memorial started.

terrible person.