Mo' Moz

For today's post, I'm still leaning towards others' portrayals of Moz.

Y'all know and love Bill Nye the Science Guy, right? And if you love Bill Nye the Science Guy, you have to love the music videos. That's just a fact.

In this video, we learn about momentum.

Illuminati? In my music? It's more likely than you think!

At least according to these guys. Illuminati puppets are everywhere, and they're some of your favorite artists. Lady Gaga? Yup. Beyonce and Jay-Z? Queen and King of The Occult. Rihanna? Pure evil. Not even Princess Di is spared. Her memorials are rife with occult symbolism.

Check this shit out. You will be shocked and amazed. Open your eyes, sheeple.

Morrissey fortnight continues!

So I missed last night (Sarah is a dirty, dirty computer hog), but have a clip that combines two great things: MST3K and Morrissey! Mike Nelson doesn't do the best accent (especially after the awesome that is Mozburger guy), but it's funny in its truth. View it here.

All the GaGa covers you never wanted to see.

This is just a heads-up link to another blog (BestWeekEver.tv). The editors there dredged through tons of YouTube Gaga covers and helpfully pointed out the demographic breakdown of who posts themselves singing "Let's Dance".

10 signs you have a lady gaga cover song on youtube

Oh, ps, apparently The Fame Monster leaked. Check out ONTD if you want the dl links.

Moz fortnight!

That's right folks, I'm celebrating the 2-week countdown till the Morrissey concert. I will soon (oh so soon!) bathe in the glory that is Mozza.

To celebrate I will post a Moz-related video everyday from now until the concert (barring unforeseen laziness).

Today's offering is not Moz himself, but a fellow fan who enjoys poking fun at their idol.

I now gladly present to you Mozburger.

CDO and I could write a bad romance

So, as almost everyone knows, Gaga's video for "Bad Romance" debuted this week. Heretofore, I was a very casual observer of Lady Gaga. I had never watched her videos, so I had no idea what they were like. I only heard her stuff on the radio. But the buzz was getting to me. Then the video was released and it exploded. With over a million views a day, it seems I'm not alone in discovering the spectacle that is Lady Gaga.


[link]

And to make sure my title makes sense, I have to mention that Chris Dane Owens uploaded a TV spot or something last week. So video two is going to be a video for "Light Speed". Good to hear it, Chris. Now finish it already, kthx.

And our romance? It would be a fantasy romance, duh.

Subtle Sexuality

On The Office, Kelly and Erin start a band called Subtle Sexuality. On webisodes on nbc.com, they chronicle their process in making the video for their song "Male Prima Donna" it's available here, but for some reason I have to watch it embedded style because nbc.com is a jerk.

We'll see if this embed works, yo.

SotD: "I Cut Like A Buffalo" by The Dead Weather

The Dead Weather is a recent project of Jack White's. I enjoy the hell out of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, so it stands to reason that I also like The Dead Weather. If you enjoy the song, I suggest you check out the album. It's called Horehound, and Allison Mosshart (of The Kills fame) is usually the lead singer (check out "Hang You From The Heavens"), but I've had "I Cut Like A Buffalo" stuck in my head all day.



[Link]

First post! Woooo!

Hi, my name is Seth, and I'm a music addict.

(Hi, Seth.)

I'll be contributing my own brand of ramblings about music to Chocchiphopera now and again, so be sure to check back soon for reviews etc. about things that aren't Adam Ant, Depeche Mode, or Vitas.

In fact, here's some a capella fantasy metal for you right now. I give you van Canto's cover of Nightwish's "Wishmaster":

[Link]

van Canto is one of my recent discoveries, and I really enjoy the use of amplifier distortion on the vocals to better simulate the sound of the guitar. The entire album (titled Hero, for those of you that may wish to know) is in pretty much the same vein as "Wishmaster", so if you decide you like a capella fantasy metal, I suggest you check it out.

More chats with CDO

I had the distinct pleasure of getting back in touch with Chris Dane Owens once I bought his CD through CDBaby. Remember the advantage of buying the physical album is that you get another disc which has the video for "Shine On Me" on DVD. Now if only I knew how to make awesome .gifs. NO MATTER. On to the Q+A! Just a short one this time around.


S: How soon will the new video be out?

CDO: Hang in there with us on video #2 Sarah. We have quite a few things we are trying to accomplish first before we release the next installment. We really appreciate everyone’s patience. Hopefully it will be worth the wait..


S: I've seen those stills and they are amazing. Any hints as to what happens next in the saga?

CDO: Thanks so much...We have had a lot of fun so far.. I think video 2 will be a bit darker in tone, and I know we will have more battle-action, magic, romance and spiritual themes.

S: After the second and third installments, what next? A tour? A second album? I would love to catch your live act.

CDO: I really don't know how this is all going to play out, and that's rather exciting to me. We never could have anticipated all the things that have happened in the first 7 months of this project so I have the feeling that the unexpected twists and turns will just keep coming.

I've been wanting to tour for the album from the beginning, so that is definitely a goal, and I really want to incorporate original film footage into the live show. Stay tuned..

Perhaps a few new singles will be coming out before too long, and that will keep my studio chops up, until the next CD.

S: Just wondering, have you been hearing from your fans? As a fan, I love it when I can interact with talented people and I'm sure others feel the same way.

I have to say, that has been the coolest part of all of this. Wonderful people have reached out from all sorts cities across the US, and countries around the world. I have felt very blessed to meet really cool people I would never have known otherwise.

A few weeks ago, I was invited down to the "Family Guy" production offices where I was introduced to about 25 people who all have become fans of my work. They're wildly creative artists and producers, and it was just a great time (and very humbling) hanging out with everyone.


AW YISS, possible CDO tour. I'd street-team for this dude and that's a huge compliment because I street-team for no one.

Album review: Blue Stone by Chris Dane Owens

Yay, I've finally taken the time to do a listen through of CDO's Blue Stone. Very delinquent of me, I know.

Blue Stone is, to put it very simplistically, a collection of non-offensive pop in the classic 3 min. + change variety. It's reminiscent to some degree of nineties pop. It's a bit like Bryan Adams, but cutting back on the syrup. The songs contain a solid, but fairly conventional rhythm section. Kind of formulaic in song structure, "Verse/Chorus/Middle eight/Break, fade/just listen", to quote Morrissey, but I like that. In fact one of the reasons I don't like Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" is because the verses just roll into the chorus and it bothers me. Also, auto tune.

BAM, lightening round!
The opening "Light Speed" is a fast-paced opener going on into the slightly rockier "World Turns Round".

"Do You Believe in Miracles?" I freaking love this song. I'm a sucker for lines like "Catch your breath/and hold on tight." I don't care how much cheese was used in the manufacture of this song. Also, the repeated "I feel you" makes me contrast this song to Depeche Mode's song by that name.

"Here She Comes" - GLOCKENSPIEL? or am I imagining things? Either way cute.

"Shine On Me" stands out because I know almost every note and frame from the song and music video. Also stands out because there's some funky elements, whoo.

"Superhuman" - 1 of 2 techno songs. Nineties-flavored techno. Vaguely reminds me of a track off this compilation. WEIRD.

"Lost At Sea" like the first song on Side B if we still thought of albums like this. Reminds me of "Sailing".

"Love Is Blind" - I tuned out a bit on this song because it's past my bedtime, but there's a "crown of thorns" mention so I'm going to say this song is about Jesus. Apologies if I'm way off.

"Pure" I always sing along with "Now you take your first step/like it was your last breath" but I don't know the rest of the words.

"Wicked", techno part 2 - vocalizations and a "chunga-chunga-chungetty-chunga" guitar riff. I used to like "Superhuman" but now I prefer this one.

"Bleed" I'm a bit unfamiliar with this song because by this point customers come in and I have to help them so I always miss it. No opinion.

I give this album a 3.5 out of 5. It fills a niche for feel good music that's not challenging in the slightest. Great for homework, chilling, and possibly knitting. It would have higher marks if it was more cohesive in style, tone, but I don't fault Owens at all because it's all good stuff and I assume he's still working on a songwriting style.

Blue Stone on CDBaby
CDO's site
Also available at itunes and Amazon

Tomorrow I'll post my interview with CDO!

Bits and Snippets

Hooray, the vaguest of details about something I already knew would happen! Depeche Mode releasing DVD of live performances from their Tour of the Universe early 2010. They've been doing this since their tour for Songs of Faith and Devotion, barring their tour for Ultra.

And now for something completely different. Vitas came out with a new music video on the first. Erm. Not my favorite video.

click!

SotD:"Jig of Life" by Kate Bush

This is one of my favorite songs by Kate Bush, mainly because I love the dude's voice in the interlude.

Alas, there is no video, but here's a fanvid made with windows movie maker.

SotD: "I Do The Rock" by Tim Curry

This song, oh my god. It's so beautiful. "I Do The Rock" appears on Tim Curry's second album Fearless, released in 1979. This song and "Paradise Garage" were Curry's only songs to chart in the US. Sax god David Sanborn even plays on it. I'm also the proud owner of this album. Thanks, The Record Exchange and your budget vinyl section!

More info about Fearless here.
Tim Curry on Wikipedia


[link]

Depeche Mode: Review (More like unfiltered gushing)

All my peeps in Mountain View, CA, I mourn with you. (Confession: I don't have any peeps.) Sorry about the cancelled show. I guess what with Dave getting a tumor removed, injuring himself and Lollapalooza, this tour was just too eXXXtreme to handle. So you had to miss your evening of Dave, Martin, and Fletch. You'll always have amateur youtube videos of other people's shows. That and the concert DVD whenever that comes out.

But! I got to go! And so I refuse to let your sadness dim my enthusiasm for my first Depeche Mode live experience. It was everything I hoped for (and more?). Singing along with Martin (later dubbed Sir Sexy Sparklepants by Rachel) was so satisfying. I got to hear Enjoy the Silence and I couldn't decide between crying, smiling, or singing along to my favorite song everrrrrrr. I also saw the famed Dave Gahan mic stand spinning move during "A Question of Time". This was the best crowd I've ever been in. It beat even the Rush and the Stones crowds at the Idaho Center. It was so freaking LOUD, HOMG. Some guy a few rows ahead of me was into the same songs I was excited about. I got a kick out of noticing that.

This also marks my first show where I freaking knew ALL the words. I didn't even know all the words for Incubus back when I was a superfan. It was so much fun shout-singing along with Dave. I also took some shitty pictures, but if you want some vicarious fun, you can check out this fairly high quality YouTube playlist. These videos totally put my blurry Row 28 pictures to shame. (None of my Fletch photos turned out, sad.)

After this show, Dave was put on 48 hours rest for his voice, hence the cancelled show. Some people noted that they heard the roughness in the singer's voice but I didn't notice at all, probably because I was in musical heaven. I do remember being worried that he'd be tired after months of touring, but he moved around the stage and danced and sang well enough that I didn't think about it after the first number.

Anton's visuals were interesting. Umm, especially "Strangelove". I loved the screen globe and how it was used during "Policy of Truth"

GRIPES: "Stripped" was too short. Or at least if felt that way. Other forum posters said the same thing, so yeah, vindicated. There were also a few complaints about the "soft center" of the show, but I didn't care. I was also surprised that they didn't perform "Peace". After all, it is the second single off Songs of the Universe. (Check out the set lists here.) My last gripe - I wasn't close enough/I'm too short/I couldn't see their faces, waaaaaah.

Despite my slight disappointments, it was the best show I've ever been to and well worth the ticket price of $90 plus the cost of airfare. Now to see if I can tackle the rest of my must-see list. David Bowie, I'm looking at you. Come out of unofficial retirement, plz.

Hey kids

I am the proud owner of Chris Dane Owens' Blue Stone. I'll be reviewing that for your reading pleasure soon enough. I'm also going to be having a chat with him which I'll post in a couple days. I like talking to and about him because he's so genuinely kind. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the track "Superhuman". It's kind of cheesy nineties-sounding techno, but I like it. This could get me some flack, but it reminds me of Moby/Recoil. Honestly, Moby and Recoil/Alan Wilder do cheesy things, too, so chill.

Add this to your bookmarks: http://www.justhearit.com/ Search the web for any song and find it immediately. It's pretty remarkable. It helps that it picks up Youtube links as well.

Also I'm getting tweets from the Leto brothers saying that the new 30 Seconds to Mars album is almost completed. I'm not sure if they mean recording or post production or what and I don't really want to go deeper into that because, come on, it's 30 Seconds to Mars.

Let's finish things up by posting a video to Adam Ant's "Puss'n Boots" off of Strip (1983). Strip era Adam is so damn attractive, it's criminal. Also this video features the shortest leather mini I've ever seen combined with the longest thigh-high boots. Sassy!

[link]

SotD - Mr. Mister "Broken Wings"

I was at work, listening to the radio, like you do, and this song came on. I'm a big fan of really earnest, melodramatic singing, so of course I love this song. I'm also a big fan of the video, which features singing while driving, singing while looking out windows, and singing while wearing a duster with the sleeves rolled up. Can you argue with that? No, I think not.



Link to video

OMG, this blog is a year old!

Let's take a step down memory lane, shall we.

~*The Chocchiphopera Highlight Reel*~

(1) I rediscovered Square One Television and learned the Angle Dance.

(2) I interviewed Chris Dane Owens at the height of his internet notoriety and made a friend. (Aww.)

(3) I helped spread the news of Warner Music's failure to utilize the publicity tool that is YouTube.

(4) I took inspiration from the film Kissing Jessica Stein and created a sexy-ugly picspam to ring in the new year.

(5) I discovered the magic that is Vitas' unearthly voice.


Macro courtesy of zestylime

What's new? My appreciation for Vitas!

I basically owe my awareness of Vitas to an LJ acquaintance. I still don't know a whole lot about him, but I do know that he was born in Latvia, raised in Ukraine, and resides in Russia. He speaks and sings in Russian. He's also super popular in China, and he performed at the pre-Olympics concert. According to his English language website, he has performed in the US and I'm crossing my fingers that he will again someday.

I've been watching this video a lot in the past few days:



I wish I were a sexy violinist. The best I can come up with is a fairly passable flutist/flautist.

Related links:
Vitas' official site in English
Vitas on Wikipedia

SotD: "The Heist" by The Lonely Island

Long before the album Incredibad came out, TLI fans had "The Heist". This video comes from a member of the Lonely Island LiveJournal Community and it's always been one of my favorite videos made using Microsoft Paint and Windows Movie Maker.



I hadn't thought of this songs in ages. An oldie (in terms of The Lonely Island's existence) but a goody.

You may be wondering

Sarah, how come you haven't talked about Blue Stone yet? The answer is simple: I'm holding out for the physical version. I want to hold that beloved jewel case in my hot little hands and then hug it to my chest in a spontaneous outpouring of love. So just wait, you harpies. Jeez Louise.

How are Paul Rudd and I not BFFs?

I was looking at the latest issue of GQ - purchased because of Zefron on the cover - when I saw an article on Paul Rudd. On the first page of the article there was this massive footnote. Here's what it said,

*Rudd’s conversation is littered with pop-music references. To be specific, while sitting in the diner today, he will introduce into the conversation the following artists, in order: the Style Council, the Boomtown Rats, Ultravox, Adam Ant, Nik Kershaw, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Yaz, Alphaville, Aswad, the Adventures, Howard Jones, Limahl, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Seals & Croft, John Mellencamp, Squeeze, Boston, David Geddes, Neil Sedaka, Glen Campbell, the Bay City Rollers, Spandau Ballet, Visage, Fad Gadget, Feargal Sharkey, Erasure, Frank Zappa, Fiat Lux, Duran Duran, Ron Sexsmith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wang Chung, Huang Chung, Go West, R.E.M., the Pogues, Hipsway, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Level 42, Haircut 100, Nick Heyward, Split Enz, Hunters & Collectors, Midnight Oil, the Hoodoo Gurus, the Proclaimers, Roman Holliday, the JoBoxers, Will Oldham, the Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, the Divine Comedy, the Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, Animal Collective, Television, James Taylor, Elton John, XTC, Sade, Status Quo, Marillion, Camper Van Beethoven, U2, Black, and the Housemartins.

He was a total Adam Ant fan and he mentioned every major Vince Clarke group (bonus points for mentioning them in chronological order). Now I imagine me brushing his hair while discussing New Romanticism.

Read the full article here

I'm totally lame

So I've been holding off on posting because I wanted to do something special for my 101st entry, but I haven't done anything in preparation for that. I should not let my blog go fallow.

Did you know Peaches is coming to Boise? She is and I'm going to be there. Wed, May 27th on the main stage. Doors open at seven, concert starts at eight.

Now for some Depeche-y goodness. Sounds of the Universe came out this last Tuesday and one of the packages is a box set with three CDs. The third CD is a bunch of demos so I thought I wouldn't have any interest in them. I WAS WRONG. Silly me, I should have realized that Martin records all the demos and so I would be able to immerse myself in that man's sexy, sexy voice. His version of "Peace" is love.

They also shut down busy city streets to perform for Kimmel. Wrong and Personal Jesus. The Leto bros. were there as they mentioned on Twitter.

In Morrissey news, the video for "Something is Squeezing My Skull" was released on MySpace. Video link.

I was a total assholio and didn't mention in a timely manner that last Saturday was Record Store Day. How lame of me. The Record Exchange had special deals on vinyl and there was live music and shit. Rachel picked up a whole mess of Depeche Mode singles and a single off of Bowie's 1.Outside.

SotD: "Cars" by Gary Numan

I love Gary Numan, for all that I don't know about him. I know that now he's gone a bit goth, I saw him on Graham Norton's show once, he appeared on The Mighty Boosh and he didn't smile in pictures for years because he was self-conscious about his teeth. OH! and he has a pilot's license, imagine that!

I've always loved the song Cars, which is probably familiar to most everyone. Numan is considered a pioneer in synth pop, forging a demand for synth-based music. His music included "themes of depersonalisation and alienation ", which helped drive critics' claims that synth music is inhuman and emotionless. Claims which, coincidentally enough, the band Rush refuted in the lines of "The Spirit of Radio"

All this machinery
Making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted
Its really just a question
Of your honesty

Included only because I like the band Rush and its vague relevance. "Cars" was a single taken from 1979's The Pleasure Principle. Enjoy!

Depeche Mode contest

Sirius Satellite Radio is giving away a pair of tickets to 17 different American concerts for Depeche Mode's Tour of the Universe. The contest is open to entrants who are both citizens of the US/District of Columbia and are 18 years or older. All entrants are automatically entered for a Grand Prize drawing: a trip for two to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, hotel for two nights, and a meet & greet with the band for Depeche Mode’s final stop in the US on September 5, 2009.

To enter: go here. Good luck!

SotD: "Tenderness" by General Public

When the touring lineup of the English Beat came to town in December, they performed this old favorite. "Tenderness" appears on the first General Public album All the Rage, released in 1984. The song was also part of two movie soundtracks: Weird Science (1985) and Clueless (1995). This song was more popular in North America where it cracked the Top 40. It failed to do so in the UK or Australia.

Spontaneous nostalgia post-cum-Song of the Day

My friend and I agree, the nineties were a golden age of pop music that we didn't fully appreciate until that decade closed. Now the standard FM airwaves are filled with what I term "urban pop", that hip hop-oriented sound that is chock full of all the urban and tough cliches: drinking, women, clubbing, guns. It is not a new observation when I point out that mainstream rap and hip hop has never been so concerned with the politics and social concerns of life. Chuck D of Public Enemy is famously quoted as saying that rap is the black CNN. There hardly seems to be any of that anymore, but all this is tangential to my first premise.

The 90s had this drive towards authenticity and vulnerability that was lost in the slick production of the 80s. Of course, I'm talking about a thin segment, but that segment drove mainstream radio at a time when we were all paying attention. I'm talking about the Gin Blossoms, Alanis Morrisette, the breakout of Lisa Loeb and Tori Amos, Eagle Eye Cherry. I still know all the words to "Save Tonight".

Undoubtedly, there are elements of nostalgia that leads me to overemphasize the authentic aspects of nineties pop. I mean, boy bands and pop starlets also had their heyday towards the latter half of the decade. It was our nostalgia that led my sister and I to host three 90s themed shows for our college radio program. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the majority of our childhood and adolescence took place in the nineties. Every hugely important event had its musical accompaniment.

Let's enjoy some balmy nostalgia with some Gin Blossoms. That video is a good collection of nineties, hair, clothes, makeup and ATTITUDE. On that note, damn, I want to watch Empire Records, king among soundtrack movies.

Popshifter

I have a friend who contributes to Popshifter, an analytically-minded pop culture magazine. I just enjoyed two articles from their latest issue. So I thought I'd share. Enjoy.

"Worst Ideas for Rock Photography" and a review of Morrissey's Years of Refusal.

Chris Dane Owens update

If you're like me, you want to know when Blue Stone is coming out. So I went the CDO himself and asked, "Hey, what's up?"

HERE IS WHAT IS UP, OKAY.

The Blue Stone Cd is nearly done!! We are mastering the album in NY right now and are very happy with how it's all sounding. Next, we will begin pressing the 2 disc set back in LA, and at the same time we'll start uploading to Itunes, Amazon, etc... (For the download version of the CD)

It looks like the end of April for the Itunes version and then May for the 2 disc set to become available on Amazon and CD Baby...

Meanwhile, we will be putting up some adventerous teaser shots for the next video in about 3 weeks. We should have 7 pix total. We'll try to put up a new shot each week in the "news" section of my site. Some cool new fantasy elements are on the way, that we really hope people spark to and enjoy. As usual, I've been having a great time putting these teasers together.

To steal from Bill Nye the Science Guy: WELL NOW YOU KNOW.

Free Download: "Witchazel" by Matt Berry

In the midst of bloggy malaise I forgot to announce that sexy dude Matt Berry made his album Witchazel available for free download for a limited time. Visit here for the album. Thanks, Matt Berry!

SotD: "Taste You" by Melissa Auf der Maur

Today's song was selected simply because it came on and I love it so I will highlight it. So there.

YouTube link

Melissa Auf der Maur on Wikipedia.

Hi, guys!

So sorry I haven't been blogging lately. I've thought about it a bit and I've been concerned about this blog and its purpose. I like blogs that generate tons of discussion. One such blog is Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, which is a romance novel blog. I confess that I don't read very many other blogs, especially as I've been busy working and reading lately, so this it's not like I have a good role model for this blog. I feel constrained by my limited readership, especially when I receive few comments. This is not the same as being an attention whore, because I did this for several months and it's boring talking to oneself, as I have been. I like music recommendations and music talks, so please talk to me and I'll strive to reward you with good stuff.

Note number two. Rachel and I are going to catch Depeche Mode August 10th at the Key Arena in Seattle. This is so very exciting to us. We're in row 28 or something. Woooo!

I've decided to do some research in preparation for the book about Morrissey's backing band. I plan on getting my mitts on some Morrissey articles and reviews with specific mentions of the band and stuff about them. Basically my only in is my brief contact in the summer of '07 with Spencer Cobrin. He did tell me that the other guys would be up for it, if I've done my research. That was so exciting to read at the time but now I have so many questions. This blog is partly a news blog and partly a personal journey blog where in I document my stumbling towards publication and my wished-for career as a freelancer in music journalism so I plan on posting about my progress every now and again.

You know what I wish for? A librarything-like site for music. This probably exists. A close match is Rate Your Music. You can add and rate your collection, list music you want to own, and even meet people. This seems a bit similar to last.fm, but slightly different. I wanted an analogue to LibraryThing in that LT sends out books for review and I would love to see a site that gives out copies of CDs for amateur review.

Another reason I haven't been blogging is that I haven't been actively hearing good music that's new to me. I've been listening to good music that I'm familiar with and I've been listening to new music that doesn't interest me in the slightest. The radio at work is usually on a Boise station called Wild 101: Boise's Party Station. I hear so much crap that I slowly lose the will to live. I've even found myself singing along occasionally as I become victim to a sort of musical Stockholm Syndrome. :(((

Good enough, good enough.

SotD: "Give It To You" by Jordan Knight

Gosh, you guys, sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but my head imploded with the news that Depeche Mode finally announced their North American tour dates and I'll be going to the August 10th show in Seattle, which is very good because they'll have six days off so they'll be fresh. I'm so freakin' excited.

I'll get back into the swing of things by linking you to this very good song by Jordan Knight. This song shocked me when I was in middle school and now I find it very amusing. The random oom-pa-pa rhythm makes this song.

This is not a blog post

Oh my god, bandslash.

New Recoil site addition and Meika Pauley

Taken from the Recoil blog on MySpace

Now at Shunt - the official Recoil website, you can read the revamped retrospective editorial dedicated to the Depeche Mode singles released between 1981 and 1985. In his own words, including a couple of never-before-seen photographs from his personal collection, Alan Wilder shares some interesting insight into the recording of DM's early singles and the circumstances surrounding this period in the band's history. Part two (86-95) coming soon...

-The Shunt Staff

Editorial located here (direct link).

Singer/songwriter Meika Pauley and Cosmopolitan magazine have made Meika's album Elijah Drop Your Gun available for free as an mp3 download on amazon.com

Meika Pauley performed at my college last year and she also won Cosmopolitan's new talent contest.

SotD: "The Logical Song" by Supertramp

For some reason, I really like this song and it reminds me of when I was a kid even though I have no memories of hearing this song growing up. (Boring video with just lyrics because what I think was the original music video is not available on YouTube. Warner, is that you again?)

In A Manner of Speaking

When I have two covers of a song, I get understandably curious about the original. Both Nouvelle Vague and Martin Gore have covered "In A Manner of Speaking" by New Wave outfit Tuxedomoon. So I checked it out and I found a great song ready to be rearranged. My favorite is Martin Gore's (homemade vid). His strong vibrato contrasts with Winston Tong's lack of vibrato(band vid). Also listen to Nouvelle Vague's version (vid I didn't even watch because I was typing this).

First DM leak from Sounds of the Universe

I found a leaked version of "Fragile Tension" posted on a Depeche Mode related LiveJournal community yesterday. The comments were mostly negative and someone pointed out that this could just be a demo. There are aspects I like but the mix leaves stuff to be desired.

You know what makes me happy? Topical humor and remixes of people saying crazy shit. I love that song made from Sen. Ted Stevens internet speech even two years later. Just hours after the Christian Bale shitfest audio came out on the internet, there were countless remixes and mash-ups. I haven't hunted these down, because bestweekever.tv did it for me. One is by indie band Mae Shi. This one is pretty great because it contains Barbra Streisand.




Also, F*ckin Newsies trailer

Moby, yay!

Moby revealed on his blog that he's ready to begin working on the final mix of his next album, with a release date hopefully set for June. Great news! Have I said before that I'm big Moby fan? Well I am. If you're not the link-hoppy sort, the vibe on this album will be much quieter, especially compared to the club sound of Last Night.

Pandora

What kind of music geek would I be if I didn't love Pandora? I love that site so effing much and I've been listening to it since my sophomore year of college (not all that long ago, but still). The problem is: I also love scrobbling my music through last.fm so I can show the whole world what I've been listening to. There used to be a Firefox addon that allowed users to scrobble Pandora tunes, but it got increasingly faulty and stopped working altogether in 2007. I've been hoping that a developer would come out with another addon that would replace the old one. And that day is now! The addon is called Harmony. It is still in the experimental phase, but you better believe that I'll be snatching this up once it becomes official.

Depeche Mode tidbits

So, like a million years ago, Depeche Mode revealed the name of their new album - Sounds of the Universe.

They also have started a digital street team, which makes me ask what's the point? They already have tons of fans and they've sold over 100 million records. I thought street teams worked best for small bands where the draw is that you're personally connected to the band and if you work hard enough you might just get to hang out with your musical idols. Not that I'm dissing DM or anything. They can do whatever they want at this point, amirite?

Now I'm just waiting for their first single of the album and for them to announce their North American tour dates.

David Bowie - where to start?

As promised, I am writing a post about David Bowie.
Here is a comment I left to a friend when he mentioned that he wanted to listen to David Bowie

I think my first complete David Bowie album was Aladdin Sane (1973); that's a good place to start. If you don't mind slightly inaccessible albums, I recommend Station to Station (1976) and Diamond Dogs (1974). These are all from the seventies. If you like crazy awesome stuff that's Eno-flavored, then I recommend the Berlin Trilogy - Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), and Lodger (1979). Some nineties Bo is good. I recommend 1. Outside 1995, also made with Brian Eno. Earthling (1997) is kind of a more dance music album with light flavors of industrial. I don't really pay attention to Buddha of Suburbia (1993) or 'Hours ...' (1999).

There are only two albums post 2000 - Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003). I think Heathen is pretty great. Reality is pretty solid as well.

80s Bo is when he went pop to compete with New Wave artists. It's okay if you like pop. It's better to pick and choose singles from this time period. I like "Blue Jean", "Modern Love", and the Labyrinth soundtrack (1986) is okay.

And that's a bit of an overview of Bowie's musical career.

VotD: "Serious" by Duran Duran

Best things about this video:
- Simon's short hair and not-serious smile, creepy!
- Nick Rhodes laughing at the video girl for no apparent reason
- Stirling Campbell, I think he's hot
- John's earnest lip synching and lip biting
- Simon lip synching in John's face and their engaging in "stage gay"
- CAMEL TOE

Music Maker Relief Foundation

I was linked to this video by my friend Ryan and I quickly link-hopped my way to the Music Maker Relief Foundation website.

I found the story of the foundation quite interesting, hence the posting. The Music Maker Relief Foundation finds Southern blues artists and helps them out financially as well as introduces the artists to a larger audience.

Go here for an impressive collection of recordings by the MMRF artists. And perhaps, if you're feeling flush, you could purchase a membership?

Related: MMRF YouTube Channel

David Bowie!

CCHH sends happy birthday wishes to David Bowie on this, his 62nd birthday. I love this man. I think it's safe to say that watching Labyrinth was a life-changing step in growing up, not just for me but for many others. Nobody can come through a close encounter with the Area clothed in tights unaltered. Perfect: as I typed this, "Underground" came on.

I wonder if David Bowie has ever watched this after he recorded it.

He should watch it TODAY.

Maybe in a future post I will say more about David Bowie.

Lololol

Chris Corner's twitter account is a fake, so who knows when IAMX's third album will come out or what it will be called.

I figured as much, but I wanted to believe!

Bits and Pieces

Chris Corner revealed the name of IAMX's third album via Twitter on Sunday - My Monster. He mentioned that the release time as summer of this year. Whoo! For my own benefit I'll list the albums I'm excited for this year.

February:
10 The Lonely Island's Incredibad
16/17 Morrissey's Years of Refusal
Sometime Chris Dane Owen's Blue Stone

March
23 Pet Shop Boys Yes I didn't even know about this until I googled something unrelated. Laaaame me.

April
20/21 Depeche Mode's next album

Summer
IAMX's My Monster

That's all I can remember for now. Also Glasvegas's self-titled album was released in the US today. From one half-listening go through I give it 2/5. I really expected more after I saw all the good reviews compiled in the info box on Wikipedia. Love the thick accent, though <3.

Sorry to end this on a down note, but Ron Asheton, guitarist and bassist for seminal rock band The Stooges, was found dead in his Ann Arbor home. Early reports suggest death by heart attack but autopsy and toxicology reports will be released in the future. Ron Asheton was 60 years old.

On leaks

So the new Morrissey album Years of Refusal was leaked on Morrissey-solo. More on that album later after I listen to it a few times. But it provides me with the perfect excuse to write about leaks. I've been thinking about leaks for some time. Spin magazine had a great feature in the August 2007 called "Days of the Leak". It pinpointed the various stages at which a musical work could be leaked to the internet, AKA the public. One obvious stage is the journalist. (More about that article here.) (Not yet up on the Digital Spin archives.)

One thing that pisses me off is lack of ethics in journalism. Usually that's not such a huge deal in music journalism EXCEPT when it comes to the leak. There is a major rift between journalists and musicians, lack of trust. Maybe that's a bit hyperbolic. Well, maybe if journalists weren't such assholes and uploaded albums on the internet, things would be a little bit better.

Allow me to publicly state that if I ever receive advance copies of anything for the purpose of reviewing, I will never leak it. Because that's a dick move. And as Wil Wheaton says, "Don't be a dick."

Query: Is it hypocritical to participate in a leak when one pledges to never leak something oneself?

More odds and ends

I don't have much to say because I haven't been working hard this week.

I found this the other week. It's almost an entire issue of Popular Music for free! I live for analysis so this is very exciting to me, but perhaps not to you. And that's cool!

Second thing is a video I found why trying to find any Depeche Mode video I could. I found one that was only released on Strange, which was very lucky because my sister Rachel hadn't seen it yet.

But this is what I'm referring to:
Simon Amstell asking Depeche Mode Big Ones for Popworld when Playing the Angel came out.


Happy New Year, CCHH readers!