Sacotn Suggests

Delorean. Dance pop from Zarautz, Spain. I listened to their latest album, Subiza, yesterday and was very impressed. Here's the video for it's opening track, "Stay Close".

Inspiration Through Noir

I was listening to the classic 80th's synthpop hit, "Don't You Want Me", by Human League today, and I realized the idea for the song most likely draws inspiration from the film, I Wake Up Screaming. A film noir from 1941, the movie follows the story of a murder of a young woman, set through flashbacks told by those being questioned in the police interrogation room. The first flashback shows Victor Mature's character propositioning a young waitress into becoming a big star. Before you know it, her career takes off, leaving him in the dust. The film has unfortunately been taken down from youtube, but if you have Netflix, here's the link for instant viewing:

http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70048908&trkid=222336&strackid=d56f0f035238803_0_srl&strkid=2107145624_0_0

The plotline for "Don't You Want Me" is set up within the first 15 minutes.

Human League-Don't You Want Me
Uploaded by adiis. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

"Bad Cover Version"

Ever started dating someone where it basically felt as if you were trying to imitate your last relationship? This isn't something that's happened to me recently, but I can certainly empathize with the Pulp song, "Bad Cover Version", off their final album, We Love Life. Funny side note: the bridge contains several great comparisons of other things that have gotten it "oh so wrong". One of the examples is the "second side of 'Til The Band Comes In", an album by Scott Walker released in 1970, in which Walker wrote the first ten tracks, but was forced to record covers by his record company, which make up the remainder of side two of the LP. Scott Walker produced We Love Life, but apparently was chosen for the job after the song had been written. Here is Pulp performing the song on Top of the Pops, the video featuring various imitators of popular musicians plodding through it, and the lyrics reprinted underneath for maximum enjoyment.

Bad Cover Version @ Yahoo! Video

The word's on the street: you've found someone new.
If he looks nothing like me I'm so happy for you.
I heard an old girlfriend has turned to the church -
she's trying to replace me, but it'll never work.
'Cos every touch reminds you of just how sweet it could have been
And every time he kisses you it leaves behind the bitter taste of saccharine.
A bad cover version of love is not the real thing.
Bikini-clad girl on the front who invited you in.
Such great disappointment when you got him home -
the original was so good; the one you no longer own.
And every touch reminds you of just how sweet it could have been
And every time he kisses you, you get the taste of saccharine.
It's not easy to forget me, it's so hard to disconnect
When it's electronically reprocessed to give a more life-like effect.

Aah, sing your song about all the sad imitations that got it so wrong
It's like a later "Tom & Jerry" when the two of them could talk
Like the Stones since the Eighties, like the last days of Southfork.
Like "Planet of the Apes" on TV, the second side of "'Til the Band Comes in"
Like an own-brand box of cornflakes: he's going to let you down my friend.

M.I.A. - "Born Free"

Here is the music video for M.I.A.'s new song, "Born Free". The song in of itself is a violent thrashing of industrialized punk rock, but nothing can match the genocide of the song's companion video. I won't spoil anything, all I'll say is, in the words of Steve Malkmus, "no time for gingers now".

Plastic Beach

Plastic Beach is a decent record but it's definitely the sloppiest Gorillaz album to date. For starters, it's the first Gorillaz album that has no producer. With the project now completely in Damon Albarn's hands, the final product is a tad less inspired than previous efforts. The biggest problem is probably sequencing. On the first two Gorillaz records, the first voice you hear is Albarn's, which makes sense as he is the main force behind the project, and to fully feel his presence right away adds to the experience. Oddly enough, now that he is completley in charge, we don't hear him sing until track 4. In the meantime, Snoop Dogg, Bashy, and Kano rap their way through the first few tracks. Snoop Dogg's track, "Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach", fares well enough but his presence feels a bit out of place. He's just too famous - the illusion of the Gorillaz can't be upheld.

The music for the most part on the record is top notch synth pop, but it doesn't have the superb structures that Demon Days had. In fact, the tracks on this album mostly sound like a bunch a keyboard based grooves that Albarn constructed, with vocals then provided later as an afterthought. The songs rarely sound produced in the sense that they were worked on for very long. One exception to this is "Empire Ants", which begins with a gentle sweep of piano flurries before being overtaken by Human League style synths and beat boxes, accompanied by a dreamy vocal provided by Yukimi Nagano. These grooves though should not be discredited for simply sounding not labored over. While they don't sound like the work of several people pooling their resources, they still are great examples of Albarn's knack for sonic textures and groovy hooks. "On Melancholy Hill" is a wonderful synthpop ballad that seems to glow with blissful memories.

While the hip-hop tracks on this record mostly pale in comparison to past efforts, De La Soul manage to make a great sequel to "Feel Good Inc." with "Superfast Jellyfish", and Mos Def's distorted vocal on "Stylo" sounds like a subway ride announcement from the future, on a great early 80's danceclub vamp. His vocals on the track "Sweepstakes" however, are kind of unbearable. While the album's first few tracks feel a little off, the ending just doesn't seem to work at all. Personally, I feel the album would sound a lot better if it ended with "To Binge" at track 14, and not even bothering with "Cloud Of Unknowing" and "Pirate Jet". Safe to sure though, there is a good record on Plastic Beach, it just might have benefited from a shrewder editing hand.

Despite any problems with the album's flow, the songs for the most part hold up. Here is a clip of Gorillaz performing on the Colbert Report featuring The Clash's Paul Simonon and Mick Jones (as well as deep soul singer Bobby Womack) followed by a rather funny interview with Colbert himself.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Gorillaz - Stylo
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Gorillaz
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News