REGINA SPEKTOR sometimes seems to be a bit of a freak. We won't blame that on her Russian heritage, because, to the best of my knowledge, similar "freaks" such as TORI AMOS, KATE BUSH, NELLIE McKAY, and FIONA APPLE don't have an ounce of Soviet kitsch in their genetic make-up.
With 2006's BEGIN TO HOPE, Ms. Spektor seems to have turned a significant corner in her career -- putting together a solid and catchy record that keeps her grounded yet still allows for the occasional flight of fancy. Keep flying that freak flag, Regina; I'm toasting you with a nice swallow of vodka even as I'm typing this.
Regina Spektor on MySPACE.
[MP3] "On the Radio"
And we thought THE WHITE STRIPES were a soap opera....
L.A. duo THE SUBMARINES consist of JOHN DRAGONETTI and BLAKE HAZARD -- a man and woman who had a relationship, then broke up, then got back together, then got married, and then put out a record album. That album, DECLARE A NEW STATE, doesn't sound much at all like the White Stripes -- more like STARS or RILO KILEY, with the two singers trading leads and occasionally doing the boy-girl counterpoint vocal thing that I like so much. It may be that things get a little too slow and shoegazey on the second half of the CD, but the music here is quite beautiful and would seem to promise great things to come for these two. (So long as they don't break up again, natch.)
The Submarines on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Peace and Hate"
On December 13, on this blog, I wrote:
"Scottish trio THE FRATELLIS play an energetic style of glam/pop/punk that evokes everyone from the BEATLES to the POGUES; BLUR to SUPERGRASS."Even so, I wasn't too sure that their 2006 debut, COSTELLO MUSIC, would make my end-of-year list of top albums. But, as you see, it just got in under the wire.Not the most original sound under the sun (as my original post was meant to suggest), but nonetheless competent, consistent, and -- most importantly -- quite a bit of fun.
The Fratellis on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Flathead"
Now that all those annoying holidays have passed, I'm hoping to get back to more regular posting next week.
In the meantime, feel free to left-click [HERE] to download last month's mix...
TRACKLIST >>>
01) The Beautiful South/Manchester
02) Scissor Sisters/She's My Man
03) Mark Mallman/Death Wish
04) The Fratellis/For the Girl
05) Consequences/Come On
06) Pinto/Armchair Anthropologist
07) The Electric Pop Group/She's Playing With Your Heart
08) TIAC/It's Always the Same Anyway
09) Relax to Paris/Flavor of the Month
10) The Long Blondes/Once and Never Again
11) Veldt/Bullet
12) Johndoe/Nattskift
13) The Shins/Split Needles (Alternate Version)
14) Loveninjas/I Wanna Be Like Johnny C
15) Now It's Overhead/Type A
16) Yellowish/This is My Direction
17) The Killers/A Great Big Sled
18) The Frames/Rise
19) Marit Bergman/This is the Year
20) Warm in the Wake/Tame Thoughts
21) Serge Gainsbourg/Initials B.B.
22) Bob Seger/2 + 2 = ?
[First, I'd like to once again thank my friend JIM for riding to the rescue re: my long-lacking blog banner. I owe you, sir. Big time.]
My parents have been in town for the holidays, so I've been spending quite a bit of time lately holed up in my bedroom listening to music (suddenly, I'm a teenager again). One of my re-discoveries was LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM's rather rippin' live version of "Big Love," as performed during the much ballyhooed FLEETWOOD MAC reunion of some 9 or ten years ago. His performance still jumps out of the headphones at me, and I wish to hell I could play guitar like that (or play guitar AT ALL, for that matter).
"Big Love" got me thinking about the HBO show BIG LOVE, whose title sequence unspools to the strains of THE BEACH BOYS' "God Only Knows." I seem to be one of the only human beings on the planet who thinks that PET SOUNDS is overrated, but certainly this song (along with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and, to a lesser extent, "Sloop John B") are deserving of "timeless" status.
From there, my free-associating jones took a leap to film. I'd just re-watched THE BOURNE IDENTITY on TV not long before, so I was reminded of the pretty cool tune that accompanies that movie's pretty cool Mini Cooper car chase. "Ready Steady Go," indeed.
Apropos of nothing, I then got to thinking about one of my brother STEVE's "old" favorites -- TRUE ROMANCE. At the time, I was quite fond of the scene in the club in which CHRISTIAN SLATER does the duel-thing with a dreadlocked GARY OLDMAN. The insistent music that plays underneath it is key to its sense of impending, TARANTINO-etched mayhem. (Also unforgettable in that film, for better or worse, is the over-the-top, titanic battle between PATRICIA ARQUETTE and a pre-Tony Soprano JAMES GANDOLFINI.)
Somehow, that led me to MIDNIGHT EXPRESS [written by the Tarantino of his day (sort of), OLIVER STONE]. I remember being entranced by the simple and repetitive synthesizer aria that highlights the desperate, dirty-Turkish-streets foot-chase between "Hey, It's Only Hashish" BRAD DAVIS and "Hey, I Only Want To Help You Help Yourself, Billy" BO HOPKINS.
GIORGIO MORODER composed that particular piece of music, so it seems at least somewhat apropos that I then started thinking about BLONDIE's "Call Me" -- which Moroder produced and co-wrote, and which appears in the movie AMERICAN GIGOLO. I have heard that RICHARD GERE goes full-frontal in that particular picture, but I'm still holding out for his infamous Gerbil-goes-a'gamboling escapade to show up on You Tube.[And don't forget to come back tomorrow for the ever-popular BEST OF DECEMBER mix.]
[MP3] Lindsey Buckingham/"Big Love" [live]
[MP3] Fleetwood Mac/"Big Love"
[MP3] The Beach Boys/"God Only Knows"
[MP3] Paul Oakenfold/"Ready Steady Go"
[MP3] Nymphomania/"I Want Your Body"
[MP3] Giorgio Moroder/"Chase" [from MIDNIGHT EXPRESS]
[MP3] Blondie/"Call Me"
As many of you already know, DAMON ALBARN's new collective, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE QUEEN, will be releasing their first album on January 22. If you pre-order it [HERE] before January 15, you'll have the ability to listen to five more of its tracks.
For my money, the first song below actually sounds a bit like PARKLIFE/GREAT ESCAPE-era BLUR, while the second leans more in the GORILLAZ' direction. GNARLS BARKLEY's DANGER MOUSE is producing.
[MP3] "80s Life"[MP3] "History Song"[The Good, the Bad and the Queen on MySPACE.]
Unlike SADDAM HUSSEIN, the rest of us have made it through another year. Congrats (I guess).
On an entirely unrelated note, the two universities that saw fit to grant me degrees are playing each other today. Here's hoping Michigan blows USC off the field (though I doubt they will).
[Look for my BEST OF DECEMBER mix on Friday and my TOP ALBUMS OF 2006 shortly thereafter.]
[MP3] U2/New Year's Day"
[MP3] Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/"New Year's Kiss"
[MP3] Asobi Seksu/"New Years"
[MP3] Azure Ray/"The New Year"
[MP3] The Lonelyhearts/"Next Year is Shaping Up to Be Real Awesome"
