"Maybe I should give up giving. Give up trying to be thin. Give up and turn into my mother. G-d knows I love her."

These heartfelt lyrics comes from 18-year old, UK folk pop singer/songwriter Laura Marling on the track "New Romantic". Thanks to blog friend Music Ramen for this tip off.

Marling sings like a fairytale pixie living in the real world. She is only 18 and admits it outright:

"I know I said I loved you but I'm thinking I was wrong. I'm the first to admit that I'm still pretty young."

Marling's latest album "Alas I Cannot Swim" is available on iTunes. It is the best gift you could give any young girl, age 12 to 18.

Marling has been compared to Joni Mitchell. After listening to a bunch of her music, I'd say she quite deserves it.

Laura Marling - "New Romantic"

Laura Marling - "Ghosts"

Video for "New Romantic":

LM's MySpace

Ya hace un año habían hecho allí el Tributo Australiano de Pink Floyd, como sitio multitudinario no está mal, sólo espero que no vuelven a hacer la misma bestialidad de poner un V.I.P. con sillas hasta la media cancha y el perraje pa tras pal coño, aunque asumo que ellos plantean este como otro tipo de evento. Por otro lado es un sitio bastante fresco, incluso pudiese llegar a haber neblina en ese pequeño pedazo de Siberia en Venezuela. Eso si quien no tenga carro para llegar consigase un pana que le de la cola o bajese de la mula pa pagar un taxi que barato no le cobrará, porque el sitio no es ni céntrico ni cerca de la ciudad. Será ver que soluciones da Evenpro para esto.

De resto habrá que ver que mas anuncian, hay hasta el momento varios rumores, que a fin de cuentas son sólo eso, rumores, puede que sean parte del festival, que hagan sus presentaciones por separados o simplemente que ni siquiera vengan. Hasta el momento Oidossucios por un lado habla de las venidas de Bloc Party y Collective Soul , por medios confiables también podría venir Mars Volta, aunque sólo está en conversaciones y al parecer la banda es cara, pero ya de cifras si no se absolutamente nada. Por mi parte hubiese agregado Los Fabulosos Cadillacs para alimentar falsas esperanzas, pero ellos no tienen ninguna de estas 2 fechas libres. Aunque al final quien sabe seguro nos traeran de sorpresa al gran Ignacio Peña que tenemos tiempo que no sabemos de él.

Tô deixando meu cabelo (que atualmente está..er..preto azulado) crescer pra cortar do jeito que eu quero e, pesquisando alguns cortes na net, me esqueci de que tenho guardando em meus favs uma coisa linda de um site que me faz perder, no mínimo, umas 5 horas na frente do computador...

A mina que tira essas fotos, cria alguns desses looks e, como eu é apaixonada por esse universo dark fetichista e a moda criada no famoso bairro de Harajuku, no Japão, do qual também sou seguidora e admiradora.

Ela é uma fotógrafa fenomenal, e como produtora, tenho que dizer: meu sonho é conhecer essa guria, poder trocar umas sei lá...130 horas de prosa com ela, assim, coisa básica.

Ela acabou de fotografar um dos maiores festivais góticos do mundo, o Wave Gothik Treffen 2008 que acontece todo ano,  em Leipzig, Alemanha.

Góticos brazucas: tremei, temei e chorai. Lágrimas de sangue, aliás. Porque NUNCA, nem fazendo o rapa na 25 de Março a gente acha material TÃO BOM pra se montar como esses caras...

Quando eu era adolescente, esse destino era tipo MECA, se é que você me entende.

Depois, você vai amadurecendo, se envolve em outras coisas e acaba esquecendo e dando prioridade para outros assuntos...mas vendo essas fotos...cacete...

Me deu uma vontadinha de ter um teletransportador, tipo aquele que o pessoal de Jornada nas Estrelas usava, saca?

Só pra poder me montar, ir no festival e depois voltar pra minha casinha porque, vamos combinar: viver assim o tempo todo deve ser um cu, fala sério?

Beijos saudosos e vejam o site. Mesmo que você não curta o estilo.

O profissionalismo e beleza são de babar.

G.

I'd never heard anything like it before and I just thought that it was the coolest thing on Earth.

It was this:

Now I know what you're thinking - that this is perhaps the worst and most pretentious song ever made.  And, 27 years later, I agree with you 100%.  So much so that, even though it changed my life totally, I don't have a copy of it among the 2750 songs in my MP3 collection and hadn't heard it for several years before I posted it above.

But in 1981, I thought Visage's Fade to Grey was the coolest thing that mankind had ever produced. 

As unclued up as I was on music in those days, I didn't realize that it was one of the first tracks in the short lived New Romantic movement which may have only lasted for about nine months, but will never be forgotten due to its unholy combination of synthesizers, pretentiousness and absolutely ridiculous clothes and hairstyles.  Particularly the hairstyles [most particularly the hairstyle of the lead singer of A Flock of Seagulls.)

See what I mean?  What a complete twat.

But the bigger the twats they were, the more I liked them - early Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Japan, Human League, Depeche Mode - I couldn't get enough of them, even totally horrendous acts that have hopefully been lost in the mists of times like Classix Nouveaux (actually I never really liked Classix Nouveaux - I just thought I should like them as they were part of the New Romantic movement).

The New Romantic movement really only lasted a few months - the long, hot summer of 1981.  Then when it got chilly, it wasn't really so pleasant to go wandering around town on a Saturday night dressed in a frilly big girl's blouse and so the movement died out, although cleverly most of the above-mentioned bands managed to adapt, mutating into bland pop bands in a Darwinesque fight for survival.  Once everyone else started liking them, I stopped - in typical British "build them up; knock them down" style.

But my thirst for music kept growing.  My tastes were a bit too mature for mainstream chart pop, but not quite ready for the hardcore alternativeness of the John Peel Show (although I used to listen to it on a regular basis).

My favourite tracks from the time usually came from what can best be described as 'one miss wonders' - a track that I heard a couple of times on the radio, but never got enough airplay to propel it into the Top 40, where it was thus be ruined due tothe fact that the hoi palloi would like it to and so it wouldn't be sufficiently cool any more.

One example that I would put as one of my all-time favourites is this one:

Actually the Lotus Eaters were a one-hit wonder, but they were sufficiently obscure for me to continue to like it.  It still sounds pretty good today, a quarter of a century later (although the clothes and the production values of the videos back on them days certainly dates it).

I'm amazed that you can actually find stuff like this on YouTube - I've never really used it for searching for old obscure stuff before.

Let's see if it can find one of the real 'one-miss wonders' - This is the Shirt by Two People, which I think reached 41 in the charts after their record company spent a fortune trying to break them. Twice.

Holy fucking crap!  It's there (only in audio, but still).  I'm shocked.  It was only added a few days ago as well.

Here it is:

That is definitely the first time I've heard that in over 20 years (which is when my Mum threw away all my vinyl as it was taking up too much room in the attic :cries: )  Actually, it sounds a bit boring in hindsight - it would have been better to have left it in the dusty attic of my mind.

Meanwhile, music had slowly taken over my life completely.  Being so much into the New Romantic thing, I bought a very cheap synth and had delusions of being in band.  Unfortunately, playing musical instruments is not really an option for someone like me with the attention span of a hamster, as I could never be arsed to learn how to play it.  This didn't stop me trying to form a band though.  I found a couple of strange guys who could actualy play guitars really well and write songs and introduced them to my best friend, Pat, who was also a very talented drummer.  I soon realized that all of these people actually had some talent whereas I was useless and so bowed out immediately to leave them as a three-piece, who were called Official Secrets.

Although they were most definitely a lot more musically talented than me, none of them could organize a piss up in a brewery, whereas I, even at 18, was ruthlessly efficient.  And so I became their manager - and I wasn't too bad either, because I was able to get them bookings at just about every pub and club in the local area where they had live music.  They quickly grew to become a five-piece and got themselves a new name, Pari Passu.  Yes, even we thought it was a crappy name, but we'd been though the thesauraus from A to P already and were getting bored of the exercise and so we were stuck with it.

What I thought was the band's big break came at the start of 1985 when the band won a big competition, Radio Luxembourg's Star Band of 1985, the prize for which was getting a picture disk pressed and having heavy airplay on the radio station.  Virgin Music was interested in signing the publishing rights to the track, Take Me For The Weekend, which unfortunately we had given away to Radio Luxembourg.  They weren't interested in anything else that the band had recorded.

I managed to get a fair bit of publicity for the band in the local media, but that was as far as it went.  I was pretty naive to think that I could take them all the way to the big time.  Already the music business was all about connections and a 20 year old kid from the provinces had none and so we would never be taken seriously.  They told me this and set about trying to find a new 'professional' manager, but they split up before they could ever find one.

Actually, during this period, I was a 'professional' manager in the true sense of the word as I was on a government scheme called the Enterprise Allowance Scheme which was a way of getting the unemployment figures down by letting people still claim benefit while tying to start a business.

I was also a professional DJ for a while - this was before DJ's were really cool - just glorified record players who spoke bollocks between records.  Unfortunately, I was a little ahead of my time as I didn't like to talk much between the records and had absolutely no desire to organize party games to keep the office and factory workers entertained during their Christmas parties, which I found out was mandatory, and so ended up getting fired.

Without the band to manage, it was time to look for a 'real' job.  My dream was to join the A&R department of a major record company - the department that signs new bands and looks after them.  I subscribed to Music Week, the trade journal, and my strategy was to apply for every job in it, no matter how suitable I was for the position.  Amazingly this strategy worked, and I got a job as Office Junior for a top music business PR Company, who looked after such acts as The Thompson Twins, Status Quo and the Flying Pickets.  Unfortunately the boss was a total bitch who took an instant dislike to me and so I only lasted there three weeks before she fired me and I was back to the provinces.

I was still desperate to get into the music business but thought I had a problem.  At 21 I was too old to start in the post room, but had no qualifications to enter a bit higher up the ladder.  My best friend, Pat, was going to study in London at the end of the year and so I decided that I would go and join him.  In those days university education was free and, even more unbelievably, if you were 21 or over, you were classed as a 'mature student' and the government actually paid you to study.

I took a job in a record shop for six months - the only job available in the provinces connected with music and then headed down to London the next September to start studies.  I loved being in London - it felt like I was in the centre of the universe finally and I could do anything.  My friend and I went to gigs regularly - including some at the famous original Marquee Club where so many of the big names started off.

Our favourite live band at that time was a band called Then Jericho, who sounded like this:

Still sounds pretty good to me. This was very much what Pat and I were into at this time - power pop with jangly guitars.  Other examples were The Adventures, Deacon Blue, The Blue Nile, The Big Dish, Del Amitri and another of my all time favourites, Love and Money:

Still sounding superb.

Although I was very excited by being in London, I loathed being a student with a passion.  Unfortunately I was a 'mature student' in the true sense of the word, and the idea of 'sit ins in the refrectory' to complain about some or other trivial bollocks was just too puerile for me to waste my time with, so I found it hard to make new friends.  The course was bollocks as well - I had chosen some newfangled module course intending to learn 'media studies' and 'communication studies' thinking that this was as close as I could get to something that would make me employable in the music industry.  But it soon became obvious to me that it was useful for nothing apart from getting the government to pay me to do bugger all for three years.

For some people that might sound like paradise, but I was in a hurry to get my job in the music business.

So I put plan B into action after just three weeks, which was to find a job, ideally in a record company.  Unbelievably, I managed to find one inside three more weeks as a Marketing Assistant for a record company.  The only downside was that it was the most pathetic record company in the UK.  It was called Pickwick and all they dealt with was reissues of crappy old compilations from yesteryear, flogging them off cheap in Woolies to people with no taste in music or to give as presents to people they don't like very much.  However, it was a stepping stone to bigger things as it was a real job with a real company.

A few month later, I met up with my first ever girlfriend, a married woman who was 19 years older than me (very complicated and the subject of a future posting, I'm sure).  It was a tough period as we had no mutual friends or common interests because of the huge age difference and no money at all, so we hardly ever went out and obviously our musical tastes were totally different.  So it was a bit of a musical wasteland for me.

The shit record company I was working for was just starting to handle videos that you could buy instead of just rent - which was a really new concept in the mid-Eighties and it took off like a rocket.  The company was a crappy one to work for and everyone was looking to leave, including me.  I nearly got a job as Marketing Manager for ultra-cool indie label, One Little Indian, home to The Sugarcubes (which is the band that was [ir]responsible for introducing Bjork to the world) but there was a fuck up with the interview and the money was very poor, which was a major concern as I needed to support my girlfriend and we were very heavily in debt already by that time.  So my dream of getting a job in the music business ended when I moved to a job as Marketing Manager for a video company.  A pretty cool job, but not as cool as being in the music business (although I have to say that I met a lot of record company execs in this position and they all turned out to be a right bunch of tossers, so I ended up feeling not too miserable about it in the end).

I had really blagged my way into a job that I was way under-qualified for (I never studied marketing at all - never even read a book about it - just bullshitted a lot [again the subject for another posting]).  The only way that I got through it was by working insanely hard, which made me a star in the business, but cost me my relationship.  So I spent the next four years on my own.  I was earning insane amounts of money at that time and so was able to start building quite a decent CD collection.

By now my tastes were on the change again, turning more independent as a result of falling asleep to the John Peel Show every night.  This pattern had started a while back, but now the guitar pop was becoming less and less interesting for me while the indie stuff was getting more interesting.  I tended to be a little behind the curve when it came to the late, great John Peel's taste in music (I nearly cried when I heard about his untimely death - for some reason it upset me even more than the death of my own grandparents).  Upon first listening to most of the indie greats of the Eighties such as The Smiths, Cocteau Twins and The Wedding Present, for example, I hated them.  But after six months, I was very much into them.  The late Eighties was also the time of the Madchester scene, most famous of which was The Happy Mondays and I was quite into them as well.

So by the early Nineties, I was pretty much just into indie stuff.

And then I moved to Prague ...

Este verano he redescubierto este grupo de Pop español que tanto me gusta y al que había dejado mucho, mucho tiempo aparcado sin saber por qué. Tengo todos sus discos y me encantan, por que aunque hayan evolucionado, hasta su ruptura han seguido manteniendo la esencia de Mecano, con la que empezaron mejorándola poco a poco. No es de extrañar que sea el conjunto musical español que más exito ha tenido en la historia, hasta que aparecieron ellos, nunca se había visto nada igual, estaba cercano al New Romantic, Tecno Pop, New Wave... y en ocasiones al Post-Punk.

Los hermanos Cano componían las canciones, generalmente gustaban más las de Nacho, que por lo general eran más frescas que las de José, pese a que yo prefiero las de él, que son algo más complejas y elaboradas, siempre ha sido el más serio de los tres. La música se adaptaba a los tiempos y la estética les acompañaba, se puede apreciar una gran evolución desde sus comienzos hasta el último disco Ana|Jose|Nacho, una de mis debilidades.

Los adoro...

El Club de los Humildes-Mecano

La llama de la libertad
Se ha convertido en soledad

Es la conclusión
Que no se está mejor
Ya te necesito alrededor

Here are a couple of my latest efforts, descriptions can be read on my Flickr page or my DeviantArt gallery.

My New Romantic

Harrys Headtrip

Difficult Shapes and Pasive Rhythms Some People Think It's Fun Entertain (1982)
1. Seven sports for all**
2. No more blue horizons (fool, fool, fool)*
3. Feel to be driven away**
4. Some people I know to lead fantasic lives*
5. Christian*,
6. African and white***
7. Are we a worker****
8. Red sails****
9. You never see it****
10. Temptations big blue eyes****
11. Jean walks in freshfields****

All tracks written by Daly/Lundon/Reilly.
Produced by: *Pete Walsh, **Steve Levine, ***Jeremy Lewis, ****China Crisis and Gil Norton.
Sleeve by: Peter Saville.

CDV 2243
® 1983 Virgin Records Limited.

http://rapidshare.com/files/138635440/dsapr.zip.html

Working with Fire and Steel: possible pop songs vol.2 (1983)
1. Working with fire and steel
2. When the piper calls
3. Hanna Hanna
4. Animals in jungles
5. Here come a raincloud
6. Wishful thinking
7. Tragedy and mystery
8. Papua
9. The gates of door to door
10. The soul awakening

Produced by: Mike Howlett
Recorded at Amazon Studios, Liverpool and The Manor Studio, Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire
Sleeve by: Ken (at A.S.)

CDV 2286
® 1983 Virgin Records Limited.

http://rapidshare.com/files/138882288/wwfas.zip.html

 
Flaunt The Imperfection (1985)
1. The highest high
2. Strength of charcter
3. You did cut me
4. Black man ray
5. Wall of God
6. Gift of freedom
7. King in a catholic style
8. Bigger the punch I'm feeling
9. The world spins I'm part of it
10. Blue sea

Produced by: Walter Becker.
Recorded at Parkgate Studio, Battle, East Sussex.
Sleeve by: Icon.

CDV 2342
® 1985 Virgin Records Limited.

http://rapidshare.com/files/138896122/fti.zip.html 

What Price Paradise? (1986)
1. It's everything
2. Arizona sky
3. Safe as houses
4. Worlds apart*
5. Hampton beach
6. The understudy
7. Best kept secret
8. We do the same
9. June bride
10. A day's work for the dayo's done
11. Trading in gold [CD bonus track]

All titles written by Daly/Johnson/Lundon/Wilkinson/McNeill except*
* Daly/Johnson/Lundon/Wilkinson/McNeill/Kevin Kelly
Produced by: Clive Langer and Allan Winstanley.
Recorded at Summer 1986, in The Manor Studio, Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire and Westside Studios, London.
Sleeve by: Icon.

32VD-1060
® 1986 Virgin Records Japan.

http://rapidshare.com/files/139138263/wwp1.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/139147577/wwp2.zip.html

Teddy Thompson's "In My Arms," the first single off of his new album 'A Piece Of What You Need,' out now.  The new disc features 11 original songs produced by Marius DeVries, long time Bjork, David Gray and Rufus Wainwright collaborator.  Teddy is the son of British folk icons Richard and Linda Thompson.   Watch for a cameo from Teddy's pal Rufus Wainwright, dressed like Elvis and jamming on the organ.   Thanks to M:M:B reader Chris Taillie for the heads up on this one.

The Pack A.D. ::  "Making Gestures"

Blues-infused garage rock from Vancouver, on the road in America making their way from WA to NYC and back this month.  Thanks to M:M:B reader Meredith for this one.

[audio=http://mistermusicblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/makinggestures.mp3]

Beau Jennings :: "In My Veins Again"

Taken from his MySpace page....

Occasionally channeling the energy of young Bruce Springsteen, other times the delicate vocals of Jeff Tweedy, Jennings has quietly crafted an Americana masterpiece with Holy Tulsa Thunder. It's Nebraska through a Being There kaleidoscope. It's a late night requiem for the lost stomping grounds of youth that forever stand tall in our memories. It's a drinking record. Pour yourself a whiskey and give it a spin!

Beau Jennings in the Press:

"he is a sonic everyman. You almost know him; he's that friend of yours who is kind of quiet at first, but has the tendency to bust out an incisively insightful statement or a perfectly timed quip. Most of all, he never tries to win your affection-he just does. " Soundcheck Magazine

[audio=http://mistermusicblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/inmyveinsagain.mp3]

Laura Marling :: "New Romantic"

Here's an update from M:M:B reader Justin Dorset in regards to one of our favorite debuts of the year, Laura Marling...

...Congratulations to  LAURA MARLING who has been included in today’s MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE nominations! The highly coveted UK music award is given to just one artist for making the "Best British Album Of The Year".

Founded in 1992, previous Mercury Music Prize winners include Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Badly Drawn Boy, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey and Pulp.

* This gorgeous palette features 3 eye shadows, 3 lip glosses, and a pinky blush to give you a romantic look!

* The winner will be announced July 1, 2008.

I znowu Szwecja w natarciu. W sumie nie powinno to dziwić - skandynawskie państwo jest jednym z największych eksporterów muzyki na świecie. Tym razem rynek rozrywkowy próbuje podbić artysta, któremu twórczość niejakiego Prince'a nie może być obca.

Po pierwsze głos i flow. Po drugie cukierkowy pop. Te czynniki powodują, że Juvelen w tej i pewnie w setkach innych recenzji będzie porównywany właśnie do amerykańskiego księcia „czarnych brzmień". Już otwierające (i najlepsze na płycie) „Don't Mess" skupia wszystkie wyżej wymienione elementy. Partia na syntezatorze wyjęta żywcem z lat 80, funkujący bas i ten nośny, infekujący wyobraźnię refren - tego nie sposób nie pokochać. Na drugim biegunie sytuuje się równie świetne „A Dream". W odróżnieniu do openera zasadza się na melancholijnym, snującym się klimacie. Ale jak to brzmi! Zagubiony klasyk z epoki new romantic? Nie będę się kłócił. Ujmuje sypialniana atmosfera „Everytime" z szeptaną zwrotką, pieszczącym ucho refrenem i eightiesowym pasażem klawiszy w końcówce. „Money Don't Talk" punktuje świetnym refrenem, „Hanna" ma rozedrgane miejscami klawisze, a linia melodyczna z „Watch Your Step" brzmi jak... Dzwonek polifoniczny. Pozostałe utwory na „1" trzymają dobry poziom całości.

Jeśli spytacie mnie, czy debiutancki album Juvelena to dobra płyta, odpowiem „tak". Zastanawia mnie co innego. Czy „1" jest AŻ TAK dobre? Wskazuje na to ilość przesłuchań - aktualnie „1" omijam raczej z daleka. Co za dużo, to nie zdrowo. Pytanie, czy mój przesyt bierze się z faktu raczej krótkoterminowości tej płyty czy może ona faktycznie tak wymiata, że można ją przedawkować? Pewnie oceni to już historia.

Posłuchaj

Largo ai giovani! Laura Marling ha solo 18 anni ma la sua voce non può passare inosservata. Nata a Reading, Inghilterra, si è fatta strada come supporter di vari artisti indipendenti della scena musicale britannica. Il suo primo vero album, Alas, I cannot swim, è uscito nel febbraio di quest'anno.

La canzone che vi propongo fa parte dell'EP uscito nel 2007, che contiene quattro gioiellini di puro folk-pop cantautorale.
La chitarra acustica, unico strumento utilizzato in New Romantic, è appena pizzicata e gli arpeggi cullano la voce delicatamente folkie di Laura.
Tutti i testi sono fortemente introspettivi: si parla di amore, paure, tristezza, amicizia. Laura ha confessato di ispirarsi a Jane Austen per i contenuti delle sue canzoni.

Se per caso vi trovate nei dintorni di Ravenna stasera, non perdete l'occasione di ascoltarla dal vivo: si esibirà al Bronson club come supporter dell'altrettanto giovane cantautore folk americano Adam Green. 

Link: sito ufficiale; testo della canzone

Zapamiętaj. Wpisanie w rubrykę „brzmimy jak" słów „twoja eksżona" nie jest najlepszą formą promocji własnych nagrań. Tym bardziej, gdy uda Ci się stworzyć rzecz tak zgrabną, jak tegoroczny album Cut Copy „In Ghost Colours".

New Order. Pierwsze skojarzenie. Muzyka zgromadzona na drugim albumie Australijczyków to electropop, który wcale nie dyskretnie flirtuje z eightiesowym cold wavem (w warstwie muzycznej), ale i też czystym New Romantic. Gdzieniegdzie przebija się też feeling odświeżony ostatnio chociażby przez Tigercity (patrz „Nobody Lost, Nobody Found"). W tym kontekście istotne jest przytoczenie imienia i nazwiska osoby, która wraz z zespołem odpowiada za produkcję „In Ghost Colours". To Tim Goldsworthy, współzałożyciel wytwórni Mo'Wax i współwłaściciel DFA Records, niegdyś członek LCD Soundsystem.

Kolejne warstwy eightiesowych klawiszy spotykają się na jednym pasażu, z głębi wyłania się suchy bit, który ustępuje miejsca półotwartym hi-hatom. Następnie show kradną funkujący groove i wokal zupełnie nic nie robiący sobie z tego, że mamy XXI wiek, a tapirowane włosy, ostry makijaż i pstrokate kurtki są już niemodne. Pre-chorus to ukłon w stronę wielkich imprez house na Ibizie środka lat dziewięćdziesiątych, a w refrenie znowu siup - jesteśmy z powrotem w osiemdziesiątych. Tak mniej więcej przedstawia się „Hearts on Fire", numer, który zagościł na wielu podsumowaniach za rok 2007 w singlach. Mniej więcej, bo tam przecież upchnięto jeszcze saksofon i zimnofalowy bas!

Jeszcze lepszy jest następujący zaraz po nim „Far Away". Wybitnie roztańczony bit, naiwno-chłopięcy tekst (bo ona odeszła) i rozbrajające-u-uuu-u-chórki. Miodny refren stanowi zaś czysty wyciąg z zajefajności (przepraszam profesorze Bralczyk, ale tego nie wypada określić innym słowem). Potencjalnych zdobywców szczytów (indie) list przebojów tu zatrzęsienie - „Lights and Music", „Unforgettable Season", „Out There on the Ice", wspomniane „Nobody Lost...". Co jednak najważniejsze i charakterystyczne dla „In Ghost Colours", to fakt, iż płyty słucha się świetnie jako całości. Panowie z Cut Copy wpadli na jakże banalny i genialny zarazem pomysł, by skompilować album, jak rasowy mixtape. Mamy więc początek, logiczne rozwinięcie i zakończenie. Nie brakuje płynnych przejść, a pełnowymiarowe utwory są rozdzielone klimatycznymi, zwykle nie dłuższymi niż minuta, ambientowymi miniaturami.

Z tą żoną, to nie wszyscy mogą chwycić dowcip, dobrze więc, że promują się w inny sposób np. pisząc własnego bloga. Z resztą olać to. Promocja jest współcześnie istotną rzeczą, ale i bez zbytecznego fetyszyzowania tejże, nagrywając tak udane albumy, jak tegoroczny, Cut Copy mogą być spokojni o to, że będą słuchani.

The album cover is actually MANY times worse than the music-- it's crappy even WAY beyond 80's standards of ugliness. It looks like the kind of record they'd be giving away at the grocery store with a 72 serving container of new Peach Tang. There's really no excuse for it. The sleeve contains unreadable lyrics-- this was around when multiple "fonts" became available, so people would use ALL OF THEM.

The nice thing, though, is the band picture on the other side of the sleeve, with black and white photos of the band which oddly made me think of the Dandy Warhols. Which made me think, that's what the Dandy Warhols are, a New Romantic revival band. "Duh," I know-- sorry, I mean it's amazing I even know who the Dandy Warhols are, so un-hip am I--  and it’s only because of that movie "DIG"-- which could also be called, "The 60's Vs. The 80's." Guess who the winner is.

Amway, the most interesting thing about this record, musically, is that someone is playing something called an "Emulator II" as well as "Fairlight C.M.I." I have no idea what any of that means (unless it means bad music) but either one of those would make a good name for a movie, or maybe a television series.

Jeśli w latach 90 śledziliście na swoich pierwszych VHS-ach przygody Marty'ego McFly'a, Dr Emmetta Browna i ich wehikułu czasu, to kliknijcie w filmik poniżej. Resztę zapraszam od razu do drugiego akapitu.

Neon Neon, to projekt, o którym wspominałem niedawno przy okazji prezentowania dwóch zacnych mixtape'ów. Dla przypomnienia - grupę tworzą Boom Bip i Gruff Rhys, którego powinniście kojarzyć z kultowymi Super Furry Animals. „Stainless Style", to koncept album poświęcony Johnowi DeLoreanowi, amerykańskiemu inżynierowi, który dał światu DeLoreana DMC 12 - sportowe auto wykorzystane w filmie „Powrót do przyszłości". Na płycie znaleźć można też wiele innych odniesień do popkultury - Michael Douglas czy planeta Alderaan z „Gwiezdnych Wojen", to tylko pierwsze przykłady z brzegu. Fani interpretowania wytworów kultury i doszukiwania się drugiego, trzeciego dna będą ukontentowani.

Nam, zwykłym słuchaczom pozostaje sama muzyka, teoretycznie utrzymana w konwencji „tamtej epoki". Dominują lata 80, choć opener trochę zbija z tropu, bo to rzecz, która mocno pachnie wczesnym Kraftwerkiem (czyli 70's). Utwory 2-5 będą singlami, a jeśli nie, to decydenci Lex Records powinni zastanowić się nad zmianą zawodu. „Dream Girls" sunie na rozbujanym, synthpopowym bicie i mocno „młodzieżowym" Gruffie (jeśli ktoś jeszcze ma wątpliwości, „dream girls" w „cool cars" są ok.). Przy „I Told Her on Alderaan" gdyby nie tak wyraźnie zaakcentowana gitara, można by pomyśleć, że żyjemy w czasach, w których znajomość Human League czy OMD jest rzeczą naturalną. Bardzo długi wstęp, w którym mieszają się dalekie echa miami bass, „so 80's" klawiszy oraz czegoś, co klubowi hedoniści nazwą na przełomie wieków latin house - oto zaczyna się jeden z największych growerów na płycie, „Raquel". W 2007 to „Are You Sensation" Tigercity sprawiało, że ludzie po jakimś czasie odczuwali przesyt. Piosenka była po prostu tak dobra, że słuchało się jej aż do przedawkowania. „Raquel" to ta sama szkoła, a gdy w 3 minucie pada Gruffowe „shine on" i wchodzi zaśpiew rodem z Frankie Goes to Hollywood, jestem w siódmym niebie. Po raz drugi jestem tam dwie minuty później, gdy po krótkim podejściu w 5:08 zaczyna się regularna biba na parkiecie. Kto nie tańczy, ten gapa.

Perełki kryją się pod numerem 7 i 9. Singlowy „Lust U" pokazuje jak z kiczowatych, ewokujących epokę new romantic klawiszy można wycisnąć esencję i stworzyć muzycznego erotyka na miarę lat 00'. Przepiękny „Belfast" natomiast to czysta definicja stylu. Jeśli musiałbym wytłumaczyć obcej cywilizacji ideę eighties, smutek takiego grania i zarazem parcie na nieustającą zabawę, to puściłbym właśnie „Belfast".

Ale „Stainless Style" nie tylko electropopem stoi. Co powiecie na próbę potraktowania współczesnego hip hopu electro właśnie? Połamane bity, rapowanki, to wszystko zawarte jest w „Trick for Treat", „Sweat Shop" i „Luxury Pool". I tu leży główny zarzut wobec „Stainless Style" - o ile same numery stoją na dobrym poziomie, o tyle robi się „płyta w płycie". To samo zakończenie albumu, ambientowy „Stainless Style" - co prawda subtelnie wycisza, ale to znowu inna galaktyka. Bardziej więc kontrolowany (ale jednak) chaos, niż eklektyzm.

No to co misie-pysie? Dziś impreza pod numerem 80, ale parę razy wbijemy też do sąsiadów - wchodzicie?

Now I personally had high expectations for this album after their debut album "All of White Horizons". Trying to listen without any hopes after waiting for it's release would have been impossible, that's just honesty.

A polish group I would class as "new-romantic gone darkwave", they definitely have a sound of their own, the vocals of Rafal Tomaszczuk most definitely playing a pivotal role. They conjure dark romantic sounds and imagery in a melodic and powerful electronic hybrid.

What a great set of artwork to begin with.

Upon pressing play I had to wait until the second track, "Brothers" before I was captured. There it was, the finely crafted web of tuneful emotion that Rafal and the band creates. The first track, "Aspetto Solo Te", displays great vocal ability, but the hook that had me listening intently and put at peace the expectations I had from these guys, came on track 2.

Initially these were my thoughts, however going back and re-listening as I did many times, the opening track grew on me quickly.

The rest of the album was as great as I expected, they have progressed in this next album, the music has matured, but it is still without question : Agonised By Love. We are transported by their 12 dark spells into a world where we feel every emotion we ever felt on a new level of intensity. A definite must-have album if you liked the first release and even if you don't own it, this one will make a fan out of you.

http://www.myspace.com/agonisedbylove

http://www.agonisedbylove.art.pl     (Official site - hates Safari)

This album is gorgeous. If you haven't got/heard this album yet, I just wanted to make sure you got the same impression from this review as you would on hearing it the first time.

This is the debut album from Swedish band Gentle Touch. These three young guys released an EP back in '06 which led to this, their first full length album. And what a thing is it.

Such gentle vocals, softly sung with hints of sadness. Every song is catchy and stands strongly on its own, which makes it a thoroughly amazing piece from beginning to end. Synthpop is still strong (luckily for us) but this album almost sounds like it has just been de-frosted from a mid-eighties time capsule, and released without haste. "Expectations" supports this theory I dreamed up perfectly. It makes you want to dance and sing along to those echoey vocals to the point you have to keep telling yourself that you're in public and such things aren't generally considered appropriate outside of the "home".

Drum machines, plenty of synth and some perfectly implemented guitars on some tracks, this fresh-faced group from Sweden has that evasive secret formula to be huge. From songs that could have been #1 on the charts for week and had every teen bopping in every club in the 80's, to beautiful gentle songs that really do move you, such as "The Finer Arts", this is a gem.

If you only buy one album before you die, buy this. If you die before you have chance, I would highly recommend coming back as a spirit and buying it, because it's really that worth it!

http://www.myspace.com/gentletouchmusic

Duran Duran - Friends of Mine (1981)

La band di Bimigham nel 1981 diede alla luce un piccolo capolavoro senza titolo, derivato da certe influenze dark/new wave di fine '70 e già proiettato verso il decennio successivo, decadente per antonomasia, ricco di ombre e luci. La New Romantic non si è mai del tutto estinta.

Menswear - Daydreamer (1995)

Dalla British Invasion al Brit Pop il passo è più breve di quanto si pensi. Una quantità abnorme di band inglesi cominciano a farsi vedere, e la qualità non è sempre alta. I Menswear durano quanto meritano, cioè pochissimo, dando alla luce un solo album. Il pezzo che vedete è però pura New Romantic ed è di chiara ispirazione duraniana.

Bluvertigo - Fuori dal Tempo (1997)
Il buon Morgan è un altro tra gli artisti influenzati dalla New Romantic, ed il pezzo lo dimostra. La piena coscienza dell'estetica è osservabile anche nel look e nel movimento corporale (andatevi a rivedere il modo di ballare di Simon Le Bon dei primi video dei Duran Duran e comparatelo a quello adottato da Morgan...)

Si noti infine il legame sonoro dei tre pezzi, il cui ritmato e gli intrecci chitarristici della strofa siano pressochè IDENTICI.