Bang Bang Out Like an Out Cherootie - 3/28 show

More thoughts about Kate Bush: some of her songs treat some pretty strange subjects. "The Wedding List" is a ballad telling the story (in first person) of a woman whose husband is shot dead at their wedding; she then hunts down the killer (still at the wedding, in her dress), kills him, and then herself. It's odd, but pretty well done, in that the motives behind the crime are alluded to but not explained. Another odd ballad by Bush is "There Goes a Tenner" about a failed bank heist, which was remade by a Chicago hip hop group as a rap song. Some day I will have to play those two songs back to back on the radio — they sound pretty different.

I feel the need to defend Swing Out Sister. Swing Out Sister had their biggest hits in the 80's, when they were playing jazz-influenced pop — somewhat akin to the Style Council, but which heavier orchestration. I enjoyed those songs, but they were tacky; always tacky. Lead sing Corinne Drewery did, however, have an excellent voice, in that smooth jazz-vocal style. In 1992 they came back with a more jazz- and soul- influenced album, Get in Touch with Yourself, followed in 1994 with The Living Return, which dispensed almost entirely with the pop sound, in favor of jazz, soul, and bossa nova. Each album was deeper and stronger than the previous one. Then, I just kind of stopped tracking them; apparently there have been five albums since then, including one that came out last month. So I guess I'll have to look into that. Anyway, "Mama Didn't Raise No Fool" is really my favorite track from The Living Return.

Zerostars are finally putting out there first full album. (Their previous effort was an EP.) The songs I've heard from it are strong, and I'm looking forward to hearing the whole thing. This will be self-released, as the EP was; who knows but it could be the record that gets them a contract. (Funny how that works these days — it's possible to self-release a good quality CD, rather than sending demos around in hope of getting a contract. You can generate some interest in your band, and this might get you a contract. Office did this; Q&A was self-released in 2006, and most of those songs made it onto their 2007 label debut, A Night at the Ritz.) Back to Zerostars: "Sleeping In" will be on this album. I'm a sucker for a song with time changes; the verses in "Sleeping In" are in 4/4 time, while the refrain is in 3/4. Anyway, you'll hear from me again once I've heard the album.

*: new stuff
(r): requests

artist	song	album	label
Kate Bush	The Wedding List	Never Forever	EMI Manhattan
The Decemberists	The Perfect Crime #2	The Crane Wife	Capitol
*Kelley Stoltz	When You Forget	Circular Sounds	Sub Pop
*Mussels	My Hand Your Heart	Little Voices	Self-released musselsmusic.com
Office	Wound Up	Q&A	Self-released reachoffice.net
*The Raveonettes	You Want the Candy	Lust Lust Lust	Vice
Os Mutantes	Ando Meio Desligado	A Divina Comedia Ou	Omplatten
Swing Out Sister	Mama Didn't Raise No Fool	The Living Return	Mercury
Final Fantasy	He Poos Clouds	He Poos Clouds	Tomlab
Matt Friedberger	Hold Ghost Language School	Winter Women	859 Recordings
*DeVotchKa	Basso Profundo	A Mad and Faithful Telling	Anti-
*Elf Power	Paralyzed	In a Cave	Ryko
Explosions in the Sky	Welcome, Ghosts	All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone	Temporary Residence
REM	Don't Go Back to Rockville	The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 And I Feel Fine...	Capitol
Fazzini	06 (Tony's Story)	Sulphur, Glue the Star	Locust
*Bauhaus	Endless Summer of the Damned	Go Away White	Bauhaus Music
*The Grand Archives	The Crime Window	The Grand Archives	Sub Pop
Pansy Division	The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out	The Essential Pansy Division	Alternative Tentacles
*The Mae-Shi	Run to Your Grave	HLLLYH	Team Shi
*Degenerate Art Ensemble	Cuckoo Pie	Cuckoo Crow	Tellous
Laurie Anderson	Born, Never Asked	Talk Normal Anthology	Rhino
(r)M83	Don't Save Us from the Flames	Before the Dawn Heals Us	Mute
Murder by Death	Desert's on Fire	Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them	Eyeball
Pit Er Pat	Solstice	Pyramids	Thrill Jockey
Zerostars	Sleeping In		Self-released: zerostars.com
*Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks	Gardenia	Real Emotional Trash	Matador

Labels: music, playlists

posted by Tony at 10:37 AM