mono mystery tour

So long story short, yesterday I ended up with a copy of Mono Masters thanks to a broken street date and a stroke of luck. [Though apparently there were some to be had in stores this morning for a bit cheaper than I ended up paying, but with that being unknown until doors opened this morning I basically paid for insurance.]

They are definitely not numbered. Boo! They are, however, gorgeous. Are they worth it? Absolutely - the packaging alone is beautiful and you really feel like you're holding something special in your hands rather than just something that was thrown together. [That said, they really could have numbered the sleeve of the White Album like the original run, but that's a minor, minor complaint.]

Comparison shopping - do you need both mono and stereo versions? Let's deep dive into 'Magical Mystery Tour', shall we? [I should note that I'm on my 7th listen to the album in 48 hours as I type and it's still exciting. Make of that what you will - perhaps I'm just easily amused.]

Song by song breakdown:

[01] Magical Mystery Tour - Honestly, I don't notice much difference between the mono and stereo mixes. Maybe this isn't necessary...

[02] The Fool On The Hill - I described before how bright and full this one is on the new stereo master. It still sound better than ever in mono however it doesn't "pop" as much, track cluttering and all that. Score one for stereo.

[03] Flying - To my ears the instrumentation is slightly different in mono, particularly the ending loops, but neither stereo or mono has the edge.

[04] Blue Jay Way - In terms of clarity stereo is the clear winner here. [See what I did there?] However, that's not really the point of "Blue Jay Way". In mono it still sounds nice and spruced up thanks to the remaster but retains more of its haze and mystery. It's all tied up now.

[05] Your Mother Should Know - This is a toughie. Even more than "The Fool On The Hill", "Your Mother Should Know" positively shines in the new stereo master and if you were judging each song individually, this would win hands down. However, in mono there are lots of neat little effects and piles of reverb near the end that aren't present in the stereo mix. While it might not fit the song as well, it ties it in nicely with the rest of the album and is very appropriate for it as a whole. I kind of doubt you're ever going to say to yourself: "You know what song I really want to listen to right now? "Your Mother Should Know". If you were, the stereo mix would be the one to go to as its pretty much perfection. In the grand scheme of 'Magical Mystery Tour', however, mono wins.

[06] I Am The Walrus - Another six-of-one-half-dozen-of-the-other instance. I voiced my complaints about the stereo mix yesterday and those issues are not present here. No sudden aural snaps, no obnoxious constant left/right panning in the fade out, no terrible stereo separation distracting from the song. That said, the mono mix is very clearly derived from a different take than the stereo mix. There are two very, very obvious differences: Ringo's drum fill before the second half of the first verse is totally gone and the backing track all but drops out about 1:20 into the song before John's first extended "I'm cryyyyyyying" leaving only vocal and strings. Not really huge differences, but if you grew up on the stereo mix you're going to notice it and it might be distracting. Neither mix is perfect - unless, of course, you're used to the mono mix - so you kind of need both here.

[07] Hello Goodbye - I didn't notice any big differences.

[08] Strawberry Fields Forever - HUGE improvement in mono. Every part plays nicely together and the genius of the song is back on display here. Not even a contest, mono wins. That said, the first fade out/in is much quicker in mono and the second fade out starts much earlier though the song lasts the same amount of time. Not as dramatic as the "Walrus" changes, but noticeable.

[09] Penny Lane - Not as definitive a victory for stereo as mono's win on "Strawberry Fields Forever" but it is still the hands down winner. The mono mix just sounds flat. If you hadn't listened to the stereo remaster yet you probably wouldn't know what you were missing. However, this track is one of the shining examples of what a good remastering job can do on the stereo disc.

[10] Baby You're A Rich Man - Mono wins again for the same reasons it won on "Strawberry Fields Forever".

[11] All You Need Is Love - Slight fidelity differences and different instruments higher in the mix between the two versions and an earlier fade, but nothing major. [No "She Loves You" at the end though? Or did I just miss it?] Not one of my favorites to begin with so I'm not particularly bothered either way.

So make of that what you will. In a few month's time when the shine of the new has worn off I honestly don't know what version of this album I'll reach for. On headphones it will be the mono mix no question - the stereo separation is way too distracting that close up. On a good set of speakers, though, the slight differences in the mono mix would probably be enough to draw me back to the comfort of the stereo mix.

On a similar note, the mono mix of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is also considerably different from the stereo mix and, in my opinion, stronger for it. I haven't listened to the new stereo master yet but I almost don't want to - my appreciation for the album grew immensely after listening to the mono and I will certainly use that as my go-to 'Pepper' in the future.

For the record, the first five albums are just fine in mono - 'Help!' being the only one that was in stereo on the original CD issue anyways if I'm remembering correctly - so these will work for me. [I can't tell you the last time I listened to, say, 'Please Please Me' prior to the box yesterday and I can tell you I'm not in any hurry to put it on again.] 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver' have me torn - they both sound great in mono, however I just know that they're going to be bigger and better in stereo. However I don't believe there are any major mix differences between the two - please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm also undecided on the Past Masters set - everything bar three tracks is on Mono Masters so dropping another $17 seems silly. However, two of those missing tracks are the a- and b-sides of one of my favorite Beatles singles, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and "Old Brown Shoe". Since I've already spent well over $300 on this project I think I'll be holding off for now. Christmas is coming, after all...

roll up for the mystery tour

I thought I didn't care about the Beatles remasters. The soon-to-be-not-current CD issues always sounded fine to me [a bit quiet in this modern age, sure, but that's nothing the volume knob can't fix], they were being presented in kind of terrible tri-fold digipaks which I loathe, and there is little to nothing in the way of new material to be had in the set. The only thing I was marginally interested in - the mono mixes - are only available in an expensive box set that is a bit out of my price range for something I'm only slightly curious about. And really, I don't listen to the Beatles often enough to upgrade 7 or so albums at $12 a pop. [I really have little to no interest in early Beatles - I can get all the fix I need on the Past Masters set thank you very much - so I'd only be getting 'Rubber Soul' on up through 'Abbey Road' plus Past Masters, really. 'Let It Be'? Eh, no thanks.]

This all changed last week when I listened to the Beatles version of "Blackbird" back to back with the Dandy Warhols slaughter of it. [I appreciate the story behind it - applaud it, even - but it's shit.] Wow, the Beatles version sounds pretty terrible doesn't it? Maybe these do need a clean up...

There was no shortage of hyperbole-filled reviews to be found on the internet - of the individual albums, of mono-vs-stereo, of do you need to upgrade?, of is the mono box worth it...you name it, it was out there. I'll admit, I totally got caught up in the hype - plus, who doesn't love a good reissue campaign. So I got myself on board for it...after the mono boxes were long gone, of course, but apparently we'll be getting more, non-numbered editions later in the year so I can wait.

Thursday at work we got our copies of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', 'Abbey Road, 'Rubber Soul' and, er, 'Help!' in. Copies I could hold in my hand but couldn't have. Them being that close yet so far away only made me want them more, of course...

On the way home from work Monday, I stopped by an indie notorious for breaking street dates and there they were - all of the remastered albums ready for me to purchase. Slightly more expensive than they would be in a few days, but I needed something to hold me over. The double albums - the ones I want most, of course - were considerably more expensive than the rest so those weren't an option. The albums I could get even cheaper at work come Wendesday were also out, which left me with the choice of 'Revolver' or 'Magical Mystery Tour'. I chose the latter for sentimental reasons and - let's be honest - because I enjoy it way more than the kind of overrated 'Revolver'. [It's inconsistent folks, come on. 'Rubber Soul' might not reach the heights but it's a more solid listen over all and you know it.]

I got in the car and put it on, expecting to be blown away. Aaaaand, I wasn't. Sure, it sounded a little better but was it a total revelation like some reviews wanted me to believe? No. Of course, we're on a relatively crappy car stereo system here, maybe it'll be better at home. Except as the album went on, it started to get more and more impressive. The title track is still covered in a layer of haze - part of its charm, really - but "The Fool on the Hill" is crystal clear and sounds better than it ever has. "Flying" packs far more of a punch than I ever knew it had. "Blue Jay Way" goes back to the haze, but "Your Mother Should Know" was truly a revelation. Always kind of a non-event for me, it has a real zing on this new reissue that almost makes it a whole new song. The bass really does pop, as cliched as that is to say.

At home, I put it on a stereo with good if not great Sony speakers. Now it made sense - the album sounds amazing. The haze still hangs over the album - or, at least, half of the album - because it's supposed to be there. You take that away and you totally kill the songs.

A third listen to the album on iPod headphones - again, good but not great - revealed a bit of a mixed bag and the argument for mono vs stereo totally made sense. The stereo separation on tracks like "I Am The Walrus" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" reveals the inner workings of the tracks and take away from their magic - on this new remaster on headphones, the separation is striking to the point of distracting and almost ruin the songs, particularly "Strawberry Fields Forever". It takes away and punch it has and makes it sound like a bunch of unrelated parts playing together at the same time to make a bit of an unholy racket rather than one of the greatest psychodelic-pop songs of all time. Ditto for "Baby You're A Rich Man". I imagine cluttering them all back together on a single mono-track will benefit them greatly as it will retain their mystique, though I have to wait on that one until the production lines can churn out some more sets.

On the flip side, the slick Paul McCartney numbers sound even more amazing on headphones. "Penny Lane" is MASSIVE as every element gets breathing room and you can hear each crystal clear, yet they come together to raise the song to a new level - something I think the mono version will miss out on. [Again, wait and see...follow up post to come!]

"I Am The Walrus" on headphones - that was the key track and the best way to gauge your interest in the mono/stereo debate. According to the liner notes - which themselves are interesting if a bit slight, but then again how much more can be written about the Beatles output? [Yes, I get it.] - they couldn't reproduce the radio fade ins/outs for the stereo mix so they created a "false stereo" mix by double tracking the mono mix halfway through the song. You can totally hear it - halfway through when the first King Lear line pops up there is an audible change in fidelity and the whole sound of the song changes. Prior to that you've got the "Strawberry Fields Forever" dilemma I described above going on. At that moment, everything snaps together and the masterpiece that is the song reveals itself as everything is firing together. Amazing. That then changes again near the end of the song as they decided - for some reason - to then snap back out of fake stereo and just fade the mono track back and forth between the two channels, giving you an odd bouncing effect.

Those two-ish mono-minutes in "I Am The Walrus" are what you need to decide how dedicated to the whole project you are. Myself, I was on eBay checking out box set prices. A bit more than I want to pay - I guess discovering new sounds via the stereo mixes will have to tide me over - not entirely a bad thing.

the new La Roux video is bizarre

After what seems like ages, they're finally getting ready to lift the next single from the La Roux album. September 28th sees the release of "I'm Not Your Toy" and the video for it showed up on line a few days ago. They've disabled embedding but it's worth a click through, I promise:

I'm Not Your Toy

It reminds me a bit of a GusGus video from the 'This Is Normal' era, or perhaps "Barry". That is, by the way, a very good thing.

oh now look what you've gone and done!

I can sum it all up in two words:

Dancing skyscrapers.

Oh, yes. The Pet Shop Boys brought their live show back in a big way.

Say what you will about how great 2006's 'Fundamental' album is/was - better than 'Release'! Oh wait, even past that it's quite good on its own merits, isn't it? - the tour behind it was...well, a bit lacking. Some very welcome set list surprises to be sure - "Shopping"! "Flamboyant"! Did I mention "S-H-O-PP-I-N-G"?! - but the stage show itself was a bit boring even with the kind-of-neat-but-could-have-been-used-to-better-effect evolving boxes. Those dancers? Terrible. Even the music wasn't as mixed up as they usually get for the live show, giving you the same effect of staying at home and turning up the records really, really loudly.

WELL

I am very, very happy to report that all of those problems have been fixed and Pandemonium - On Tour ranks up there with Performance and Discovery in terms of Pet Shop Boys tours. Yes, I said it.

First, the set list! When it first appeared on the internet, people were very quick to cry "FAKE!", and with good reason. Not only did it contain just half of current album 'Yes' but there were some real oddballs and too-good-to-be-true songs on there. "Two divided by zero"? "Why don't we live together?"? "Do I have to?"? Did someone expect us to believe this?

Except believe it we had to because it was real. Much like the set lists from PJ Harvey's tour behind 'Uh Huh Her', it's as if the Boys got bored in the studio one day, wrote down all of their songs on little pieces of paper, threw them into a hat and picked out the first 20 or so to be the set list for the upcoming tour. It is, honestly, as close as you can reasonably expect to get to a perfect Pet Shop Boys set list in 2009.

[So, of course I've some issues with it. First - please stop it with "Se a vida e". It's one of your three worst singles ever and we don't need to hear it every tour. Thank you for using "Discoteca" as the ending coda to it, that was very welcome - maybe do that one instead next time? Thanks.

Second - the Boys obviously have a vast catalogue and you're never going to be able to fit everything you want to into one show, particularly when you're as chained to a non-changing set list as their shows require you to be. The medley of hits at the Brits was fun and even necessary in such a situation, but layering one song on top of another and/or teasing us with something we wanted to hear a lot - say, "Closer to heaven" - before launching into something we wanted to hear less - "Left to my own devices" in this example, which it should be mentioned had been teased a song earlier leading into something we wanted to hear even less, "Always on my mind" - got a bit tiring. That said, did we need to hear "Go West" again? Probably not. Did we need to hear "Go West" with the beats of "Paninaro"? Abso-fucking-lutely. So thank you.

Third - "New York City boy"? Really? Oh well.]

Gripe #1 over.

As mentioned before, the set list doesn't change from show to show so there's no point in reproducing it here. I will, however, talk about some of the highlights:

ONE: "Two divided by zero" / "Why don't we live together?": with a bit of "In the night" thrown in for good measure. Where do we begin? First, two completely overlooked gems from 'Please' - which is overlooked in its own right, all you ever hear about are the singles - back to back for a nice flashback to 1986. As if that wasn't enough, during the former we got a cube-head fashion show and the latter not only brought us singing and dancing skyscrapers but also a Chris Lowe dance. Check this shit out:



Amazing. Following it with "Always on my mind" was mean - yes, we get it you need to play the #1s but let us down from our shock high a little easier next time.

TWO: Starting the show with a "More than a dream" tease before launching into "Heart". With cubeheads for everyone! The only downside of this was we didn't get a proper "More than a dream", but it was worth the sacrifice. [PS - "Heart" makes a great opener even if I never would have thought of it myself.]

THREE: The slow section in the middle. Yes, I loved the slow section. People don't usually say that, but here goes. You've just finished the one-two punch of "Always on my mind" and "Left to my own devices" and the crowd is going apeshit. [I might be tired of the former but apparently I'm the only one.] It's time to follow up with another hit. So we get a Chris Lowe piano solo [*SWOON*] followed by a down-tempo b-side, "Do I have to?" And it totally works. I'll admit, I've never been a big fan of the song but this performance totally changed my mind about it. Beautiful. AND THEN, let's morph that into "King's Cross" and get everyone super wistful. Check and check. Next we'll pick up the tempo ever so slightly with the also not-exactly-uplifting-but-gorgeous "The way it used to be". Done. Finally, cap the section off with an absolutely MASSIVE rendition of "Jealousy". Perfect. It's so thrilling - again, remember this is the slow section - that my excitement carries me through *yawn* "Suburbia" [again, fine but it's been done] into...

FOUR: "ALL OVER THE WORLD". Why isn't this a fucking single? As ridiculous as you'd think it would be live and then some. As great as their singles discography is, the Boys have had plenty of missed opportunities in that department but this one shoots right to the top spot of "Pet Shop Boys songs that should have been singles". Seriously.

Then they ruin that with "Se a vida e" *eyeroll* and the not-as-bad-as-I-was-expecting-but-overall-kind-of-pointless "Viva la Vida" cover over the backing track to "Domino dancing". At least we got to see Neil in a crown and cape walking around a park with an umbrella.

"It's a sin", duh, ends the main set. It is, of course, HUGE. They disappear and come back for...

FIVE and SIX: "Being boring" and - wait for it - "West End girls". Yes, "West End girls" was a highlight. They did it dance mix style, for heavens sake. I thought I was tired of it, but I totally wasn't.

Not to gloss over "Being boring" - gorgeous. Stunning. I was going to call "Jealousy" their best slowie but I'd have to save it for this one. There's a reason this is a fan favorite - no, THE fan favorite.

Question one: when's the DVD?

Question two: when's the next tour? [I've decided it has to include "Violence". It just has to.]

Oh yes, quick Gripe #2: the tour merchandise was terrible this go round. T-shirt selections:

- a red shirt with the "Go West" buttons printed on the front. A bit late with this one, aren't we?

- a black shirt with a gold/purple/shiny Pandemonium "P" on the front. Kind of tacky and unwearable - though Neil was rocking it for the first part of the show. He's so cool and uncool all at the same time, I love it.

- a white shirt with the 'Yes' checkmark on the front and "YES" in black letters on the back. Not bad, but white shirts are kind of terrible. Would've been AMAZING on black.

- a really ugly olivey/grey shirt with the PSB block logo in multi color on the back and tour dates on the back. Now you're getting somewh....wait, those are the European dates. Nevermind.

Then there were a couple girl shirts - including a "West End girls one", was this a PSB clearance house? - along with an overpriced hoodie, the obligatory tour book, and a coffee mug. Oh, and a poster - but not the cool hand drawn poster from that contest they had on the website which I totally wanted, just the album cover that sad "On Tour 2009/2010" on it. Bummer.

you put a spell on me, I don't know what to do

The new Alphabeat single "The Spell" has finally hit YouTube for your listening pleasure.



It's no "Boyfriend" but it is a fantastic slice of Euro-pop that has me quite exicted for their second album - also called 'The Spell' - in October. Bring it on!

we get high on our music

Finding a parking spot on East Carson Street in Pittsburgh on a Saturday evening is not easy, but - after double checking with a friendly police officer in the Starbucks we leave our vehicle in front of - we manage. Only a block from the venue and we take our time. It's only 8:10 and doors were at 7 - accounting for the opening band, we've probably still got a solid half hour until the Breeders take the stage.

However, as we walk up to the doors of Diesel and pull out our IDs, I hear it - "New Year". Fuck, they've started and the bouncer is telling me he won't accept my enhanced New York State drivers license. "Enhanced - what's that all about? We get a lot of these that are fakes down here." Even if it was a fake, do I look like I'm under 21? If so, thanks and get your glasses checked. We finally convince him and get our tickets scanned on the way in just as "New Year" finishes. I round the corner to the stage and am confused - there's Kim and Kelley [looking very slim these days, I might add] and Cheryl From Florida and Jose...but who's that on bass? It's certainly not Mando...is it? No it can't be.

"AWOOOOOO-oooh." "Cannonball" almost immediately - uh-oh, this isn't often early in the set, how much of the show did we miss? All these years and hears later - and there have been plenty of both - it is still a monster of a song and I still love hearing it live thankyouverymuch. By the way, did Kim just call the woman on bass "Josephine"? No way...

"Kelley will sing this next one" so it is, of course, "I Just Wanna Get Along". Score! Missing from the "Mountain Battles" warm up show I saw, it was a very welcome return. Plus, I've a total thing for Kelley. Three 'Last Splash' songs in a row - I'm certainly not complaining, but...odd.

"Ready to start this next one, Josephine?" No fucking way, I heard that wrong. And the next one is....."Do You Love Me Now?" Seriously? Stunning.

The 'Last Splash' run can't go on forever...so we'll break it to visit 'Pod' for a bit. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Iris" and "Fortunately Gone" all follow in quick succession, all awesome. Maybe I didn't miss as much as I thought I did...and what is going on with Josephine/Not Josephine? [There's no way it can be...right?]

She ducks away for a bit and Kelley takes the bass. Hrm, where are we going with this one? A snare drum is brought out from behind the wall of amps. Oh nice, "The She" returns! But wait...Kim usually plays a full set for that one and this is only one drum. Maybe the economy has affected even "The She". Or maybe...

...oh, yes. "Hoverin'". Are you shitting me? In my mind, my dream-Breeders-set-list doesn't even contain it because it seems so impossible to make an appearance, but here it is. And it is, for sure, the highlight of the show and worth entry price alone. "We get high on our music", indeed. I'm gone on this one. 'Title TK' does get a rep next, though, with a crushing "Little Fury". So good.

"Ready?" "Ready." It takes a minute to sink in because it doesn't seem possible, but we're back to 'Pacer' and it's....."I Am Decided". No. Fucking. Way.

Way.

"I can either play bass good, or sing good. Which one do you want?" This is why I love Kelley.

"Both." This is why I love Kim.

"Alright...we'll give it a go."

"Now I lie to get by..." The 'Pacer' run finishes with the lovely title track, always welcome. Time for some more instrument switching - Kelley back to guitar, Cheryl From Florida onto bass and Jose doctors his drums for the sole 'Mountain Battles' track of the evening - that I see, anyways - "Bang On". Nice choice. I love you, girls, never you worry - and tonight I love you more than ever.

"I'll try not to go to fast for you," Kim says to Cheryl From Florida as she TEARS into 'Huffer'. Done in 90-seconds flat, I'm sure, and what a minute-and-a-half.

"This worked out in rehearsal, so we'll see what happens." Josephine/Not Josephine comes back to the bass, Cheryl From Florida goes and naps for a minute and Kelley has three sheets of paper for this one. What the hell could it be? Kelley and "Josephine" swap spots so the potential imposter has a mic. OK, so maybe it is Josephine, because it is - dun dun dun - "Metal" fucking "Man". Really? Incredible. Another one you'd never dare dream to hear, but there it is. Someone in the back is prepping the violin. Is it time for...

No, but "Safari" comes out to play in all of it's extreme-noise-freak-out glory. Now? Nope - but how about a riff-tastic "Saints"? At this point, I have my usual Breeders concert thought of: "I can't believe it takes all of these people to play these somewhat simple-in-terms-of-complexity songs." Then I realize: yes, you need five people to properly gives "Saints" all of the attention it needs - it's not as simple as you think.

"Thanks for coming, guys!" No wait...well, obviously we've got at least one song for an encore. Sadly, one song is all we end up getting. But what a song. "Kelley can't play the violin, but she can play this song. It's weird." This is why I love Kim and Kelley. "Drivin' on 9", of course. Always welcome, but - and a very small but - kind of an anti-climactic last-song-of-the-evening kind of song.

So, what just happened? Was Josephine Wiggs just on stage with the Breeders? The set list sure suggests it - only three songs post-1996. If you have to refresh yourself quickly, it would make sense to do so on songs you already know. I purposely avoided any tour spoilers so that doesn't help. Bryan just saw them a few nights previous in NYC, I'm sure he would've mentioned something.

Turns out Mando's girlfriend was about to give birth so they called in a favor from our good friend Josephine Wiggs to fill in for the rest of the tour - past the NYC shows. [Though apparently Carrie Bradley was at those so they got to hear "Oh!". I'm fine with that - it really is the one Breeders song I could do without.]

As if that wasn't enough, they have one shirt for sale this evening - a Tammy and the Amps shirt.

A
M
A
Z
I
N
G

If I missed anything, I don't even care. Looking back, I don't see "Tipp City" or "Divine Hammer" and they don't usually stay home for the night. Also, with the return of Josephine should come - I imagine - the return of "Head To Toe", but I've heard that one before too. If I missed "Doe" I'd be kind of miffed, but other than that the night was so perfect it doesn't even matter if it was incomplete.

I almost skipped out on this tour. So close to missing the show of a lifetime. Come out again soon, girls. I already miss you.

yet another casualty of the digital age

A solid year after it first appeared on them thar internets, Annie's fan-fucking-tastic "Songs Remind Me Of You" finally - and rather quietly - got a single release. Yay!

Oh, it's iTunes only? Slightly less exciting, but at least it's out there. And, for once, iTunes US gets it with the rest of the world. OK, we can deal with thi...

...oh, wait. It's only the album version? No b-sides, no remixes, so fucking live tracks from the i-fucking-Tunes festival last year? Thanks for bothering, but nevermind.

I suppose this means we won't be getting that Richard X extended mix I had imagined in my head. *sigh*

here's the thing with La Roux remixes

The next La Roux single is "I'm Not Your Toy" - not a choice I really agreed with at first, but I've come around to it. It will - presumably - come backed with a robust remix packages as the previous singles have.

In fact, two of those remixes are popped up on YouTube. There's one from Jack Beats:



There is also one from DatA:



Both fine remixes - particularly the DatA one that takes it to a different place than it originally inhabited. However, neither hold a candle to Skream's "In For The Kill" so both are - on some level - a bit of a disappointment.

Oh well. I'll get over it.

another way the digital age is getting me down

So.

The new Charlotte Hatherley single "White" finally came out this week in the UK...

...as a digital download only. There's a 7" next week but it only has 1 of the 3 available remixes on it. That doesn't work. [Well I need that, but I also need a way to get the other two.]

Being in the US, I cannot purchase the digital download - and, hence, cannot support Charlotte with my hard earned for her work and have to track down a promo on eBay, from which she will not see a cent.

Fuckers. I thought the internet was supposed to make purchasing music easier, not harder. Shooting yourselves in the foot and all that.

In any case, here's the video:

actually, I'd rather not sell any singles, thank you

According to Recordstore.co.uk the CD single for "Remedy", the next Little Boots single, is once again a 1-tracker with the album version.

She's making it unnecessarily hard on herself, really.

FAIL.

[Truthfully though, it's almost better this way - the remixes from the promo are crappppppp. :(]

the Metalocalypse is upon us once again

Amazing news from the Dethklok myspace this week.

'Dethalbum II' is out September 8th. [According to wikipedia, there will once again be a limited edition, this time with a bonus DVD with almost an hours worth of unaired material. Order yours early - remember how the first one sold out in no time and was going for $100+ on eBay until a repressing weeks later. Also - vinyl release September 29th. Amazing.]

'Dethgame' for XBox360 and PS3. I have no idea what it will entail, but it's going to be awesome.

30 minute episodes for season 3. This has me a little worried as the 12 minute format seemed to fit them just fine. We'll see.

Fall tour. Bring it.



Amazing.

you can't mistake our anthology

So for the past five days or so, I've been listening to one of two things: the amazing, amazing, amazing La Roux album or [more often than not] that piece on the left - the 22-disc, damn near complete Girls Aloud singles box set.

I've always had a love/hate [see what I did there?] thing with the Aloud. On one hand, they've released some of the best pop singles of the decade - "Sound of the Underground", "Love Machine", "Biology", "No Good Advice", all brilliant. On the other hand, they've released some of the worst, most unnecessarily pointless cover versions of the decade: "Jump"? "I'll Stand By You"? "I Think We're Alone Now"? I really don't think anyone was crying out for updates of those. [I used to think "I'll Stand By You" was their worst recorded moment, but then I came across their cover of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag" - hardly what you'd call listenable in the first place - on the b-side to the quite lovely "Whole Lotta History" and I very quickly changed my mind.]

Anyways, the box itself cost close to $100 and was a solid 8+ week wait between order and delivery. So was it worth it?

Er, yes and no. Yes, I'm a completion freak and having pretty much everything all in one place is amazing. This box also marks the CD debut of a solid chunk of tracks that were previously digital, promo or vinyl [usually picture disc] only, so that's nice as well. And who doesn't love a good megamix or four? On the flip side [see, I did it again], many of the whopping 151 tracks that make up the box don't exactly beg for a second listen. Especially on the singles for the second, third and fourth albums when pretty much all of the remixing duties were handled by some faction of the Xenomania team - who produced the singles in the first place - things tend to get a bit tedious. There is a bonus disc of previously unreleased tracks - plus - however it is only 8 tracks - minus - and a good chunk of those 8 are just alternate lyric versions. Bonus disc fail.

That said, there are some gems buried in here - many pretty readily available on a sub-$5 CD single eBay or the Amazon marketplace, but that's besides the point - and it is kind of a badge of honor to be able to say "I made it through the Girls Aloud box set and lived to tell the tale."

If anything, it's nice to finally have one of their top 3 moments - rare for such a group, a picture disc vinyl-only b-side, the early-90's dance-act-with-female-guest-vocalist-esque "Memory Of You" - in CD quality. [Even if the bass is a little less exciting in HQ.]

As an art object, A+. As something you'll want to pull out and listen to over and over....notsomuch. Oh well.

10 choice cuts:
"Androgynous Girls" [b-side to "Love Machine"]
"Memory Of You" [b-side to "The Loving Kind"]
"Nobody But You" [b-side to "Biology"]
"It's Your Dynamite" [b-side to "Untouchable"]
"Girls Allowed [Almighty Mix]" [b-side to "Jump" - total club cheese but it's tolerable that early on, plus it's one of their finest non-single tracks to begin with]
"Some Kind of Miracle [Illicit Mix]" [previously unreleased, on 'The Rarities Disc']
"Life Got Cold [29 Palms Mix]"
"Biology [Benitez Beats]"
"Girls Aloud Megamix" [b-side to "Something Kinda Ooooh"]
"Whole Lotta History [Acoustic Version]" [quite lovely version of an underrated single]
bonus: "I'll Stand By You [Gravitas Vocal Dub Mix]" and "See The Day [Soundhouse Masterblaster Mix]" [completely ridiclous clubbed to death overhauls of two snorefests]

Things to avoid:
Any cover version that isn't "Girls On Film"
Any Tony Lamezma remix after your first two - "The Show" and "Love Machine" pop up first and they're probably your best bet.
"Girls on 45 Volume 2" - it just doesn't work for some reason, though the other megamix and album medleys are good fun
The edit/dub versions of the remixes - especially during the 'Out of Control'-era when they're all stacked in a row. Nice to have, yes. Nice to listen to back-to-back-to-back, no.
The interviews on the "Sound of the Underground" and "The Show" discs - all they do is reinforce my idea that the girls only wanted to be famous and became pop stars because they happened upon the opportunity, not because they care anything about music.

you don't want me, you just like the attention

Effing amazing.

That is all.

Origin:Orphan

According to the Hidden Cameras myspace their fourth album, entitled 'Origin:Orphan', is scheduled for release on September 22nd. That's the artwork over there. The first taste we have of it is a song called "Walk On" which is available for free from the Amazon digital store. It is a different sound for them - quite heavy and dark - though is still unmistakably the Hidden Cameras.

Unsurprisingly, "No Gay Goth Scene" did not make the tracklist for the album, but these songs did according to the Arts & Crafts website:

Ratify The New
In the NA
He Falls To Me
Colour Of A Man
Do I Belong
Walk On
Kingdom Come
Origin:Orphan
Underage
The Little Bit
Silence Can Be A Headline

I am cautiously optimistic about this one.

the way you make me feel

If I'm going to be totally honest, I haven't had much use for Michael Jackson since at least the mid-90's. As far as I'm concerned, the last great piece of music that came out under his name was the AMAZING Brothers in Rhythm remix of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" during the 'HIStory' campaign when remixers were given access to early masters to update them for the dance floor. [Though the Moby "Beat It"? No thanks.] And even then, that was an update of an at-that-point 10+ year old song. So let's just say anything past 'Dangerous' is kind of a waste of time.

Even more truthfully, we lost that Michael Jackson long ago. The past 20 years or so has seen a life fall apart in bizarre and often sad ways in a very public light, each event ruining a man more and more. Not that he did or didn't do alot of it to himself, but that's neither here nor there.

You really can't take away the brilliance of his early career. All that Jackson 5 stuff - amazing. A string of four of the biggest and best pop albums of all time - 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller' are back to back brilliance, 'Bad' hasn't aged well [time has been particularly cruel to the title track] but ultimately is an amazing album, and while 'Dangerous' is one of the first examples of patchy pop albums created to take advantage of the longer running times of CDs it has some really bright shining moments: "Jam", "In The Closet", "Black or White", "Why You Wanna Trip On Me", "Heal The World", "She Drives Me Wild", "Remember The Time" - all incredible.

So at this time, I don't remember the man whose own nose literally fell off his face or who slowly became someone who bared no resemblance to the musical genius we grew up with. I remember the man who gave us this:



Best opening track to an album ever.

The world is certainly a different place without him.

I'm fifteen all over again

File under "too good to be true": the original line-up of Sunny Day Real Estate is reforming. For a tour.

I got to see the boys a couple of times back in "the day", but sadly only after the split/reformation without Nate. I also got to meet Dan & Jeremy on one of 'The Rising Tide' dates and have a picture of my 20-year old self with them smiling like an idiot next to my computer. It still makes me happy thinking about it. Then, in the Fire Theft days, I got to meet Will & Nate as well. So I've seen em all, just not all at once. [I always wished I asked them to sign my copy of LP2 that Jeremy and Will signed when I met them, but it didn't feel right. I did get to go grocery shopping with them, however, so I suppose that makes up for it.]

Until September, that is. I haven't figured out how yet, but I will be there. Oh yes, I will.

The dates from the new website:

September 17th - Vancouver, BC/Commodore Ballroom
September 18th - Portland/Crystal Ballroom (Musicfest NW)
September 20th - Salt Lake City/Murray Theater
September 21st - Denver/Ogden Theater
September 23rd - Minneapolis/First Avenue
September 24th - Chicago/Metro
September 25th - Detroit/St Andrews Hall
September 27th - New York/Terminal 5
September 28th - Boston/House of Blues
September 30th - Washington DC/930 Club
October 1st - Philadelphia/Trocadero
October 3rd - Atlanta/CW Center Stage
October 5th - Dallas/Granada Theater
October 6th - Houston/Warehouse Live
October 7th - Austin/La Zona Rosa
October 9th - Tempe/Marquee Theatre
October 10th - Anaheim/House of Blues
October 11th - Los Angeles/Henry Fonda Theater
October 13th - San Francisco/Fillmore
October 15th - Spokane/Knitting Factory
October 16th - Seattle/Paramount Theatre

Oh, and they're reissuing 'Diary' and 'LP2' as well - with bonus discs and liner notes and all that jazz. See you at the stores September 15th for those.

har har

The challengers on Jeopardy! tonight are Damon and Naomi.

Well, I got a kick out of it.

kind of awesome

Truth be told, I am not expecting great things from the latest Depeche Mode single. The a-side itself is pretty terrible and the list of remixers is hardly top notch. As these things go, though, you suck it up and buy them anyways. At least the vinyl will be on nice white marble.

HOWEVER

An auction for the CD single set has come and gone on Ebay. There are many, I'm sure, however this particular auction has an amazing item description. Check it out.

Having not heard them yet I'm not qualified to say if he's right or wrong. [Wrong...HA!] However, my gut tells me he's hitting the nail on the head.

Amazing.

suuuuuper Tuesday!

Today is the biggest release date we've had in quite some time...for me, anyways.

It is the day that Kasabian unleash their third album - the still awkwardly titled 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' - on the US. [The UK got it yesterday...at least we're not waiting months and years this time.] Sonic Youth go indie with 'The Eternal' - hope you got yr buy early get now in for the live LP, there's a new download coming later this week and they've said they'll give us the iTunes bonus track once they have the rights to it back. Huzzah! Placebo return with the not-awful-despite-all-signs-pointing-in-that-direction 'Battle For The Sun'. After the shitfest of 'Meds', that's good enough for me.

In the digital realm, Little Boots gives us the 'Illuminations' EP while we wait for the album which was released yesterday overseas. [Bastards.] Pet Shop Boys have expanded the release of "Did you see me coming?" to include all b-sides and remixes for the US over two digital EPs which was very nice of them as there's a couple tracks not on the UK physical release we can now have.

It's only 7:42 am and my credit card is already tired.

how to contribute to the death of the physical single

The new Little Boots single "New In Town" is quite good. It is her first "proper" single, if you will, and is being released on a number of formats.

There are two vinyl formats - a 7" and a 12" - both with a remix or four, as well as a digital release with a different set of remixes. Finally, there is a CD format which contains the a-side and...well, that's it. A 1-track CD with the album version of the single. It's not like there's not material as clearly many remixes were commissioned for the release. It's not like the a-side itself is so long that by putting an additional track on the CD you'd make it ineligible for the charts by going over the time restraint for CD singles. I can't possibly fathom a reason why, with the physical single on its last legs to begin with, you'd put out a CD single with nothing on it to entice people to buy it. The artwork isn't even that good.

For such carelessness, I am boycotting all formats of the single. Which is a shame, because I'd love to support both her and the physical singles market. But I can't on principle.

*sigh*

keeping their word - the new Ash single[s]

During the campaign for 'Twilight of the Innocents', Ash went on and on about how they weren't going to release traditional albums anymore, that singles were the way to go and that the next time we heard from them it was going to be in a series of singles.

Nice thought, but I was sure they - as many other bands have in the past - go back on their word and sometime about now we'd have a new Ash full length in our hands.

Well, thanks for proving me wrong boys - no really, I love singles series' so I'm very excited about this. Today, or yesterday, or a few days ago I'm not really sure, Ash sure enough posted the first in a string of single-only tracks on their website. Called "Return of White Rabbit", it is immediately better than anything from the last album - I think it is what they were trying to do with "You Can't Have It All" but weren't really able to get across.

According to the release, a new series of singles collectively known as the A-Z singles will be released starting in September on digital download [paid or unpaid, it wasn't specified, but I'd imagine the freebie is a one time/launch only deal] and super limited 7". [Those are going to be fun to track down...] The word is "Return of White Rabbit" is separate from those releases, though it will also be getting a 7" release in June.

With the quality of this track, I cannot wait. Ash is back, oh yeah.

'V' in the US

One of my favorite albums of last year - Van She's 'V' - is getting a US release later in the year. [I read June somewhere, but I don't know if that's accurate or not.]

Hooray!

When it comes out, it will be paired with a second disc entitled 'Ze Vemixes', which is a Van She Tech overhaul of the album.

Double hooray!

Do we get a tour for a triple hooray? Time will tell...

"The Cat & The Eye" from said album:



Brilliant.

[PS - The new Dragonette single gets better with every listen. Hooray!]

oh, Anthonio!

My letter from Annie to Anthonio arrived yesterday - in an orange sleeve, score! I still haven't decided how I feel about the song itself - though the Fred Falke and Vaughn E remixes are quite good - but I love the packaging. The whole campaign, really, has been amazing.

A well spent $10, that's for sure. I wonder what they've got lined up for ItemCDX2.

for your Friday - new Dragonette!

Popjustice have the brand spankin' new Dragonette single "Fixin To Thrill" to download today. It is, of course, amazing. The single itself comes out at the end of May and the album of the same name in August...or so they say. We saw what happened LAST time.

Anyways, it's ridiculously amazing and you should download it now.

The end.

a thought for a Thursday

Collecting promo CDRs for exclusive remixes is nowhere near as fun - or satisfying - as promo 12"s. [That said, the whole idea of promo only remixes is quite obnoxious, but at least when you were tracking them down on 12" you had something nice to add to your collection. Not so much with stupid CDRs.]

And that's all I have to say about that.

fun with physical formats: Annie's "Anthonio"

So after Annie's 'Don't Stop' failed to even materialize - let alone take off - last year, you might have wondered what would happen next. Well, as you probably know she hooked up with the always amazing Richard X to launch his new Pleasure Masters label with her new single "Anthonio". It was initially announced to be a 12"/download type deal - however, on Monday it was announced through the Pleasure Masters Myspace [and probably other places, but that's where I read about it] that there was also going to be a super duper limited handmade CD format of the single. 100 copies to be exact - or 99, as according to their blog they ran over 1 copy with their chair. That's a picture in the corner - A-mazing. Apparently all copies are gone now, but I put an order in and was charged so hopefully that means it is on the way to my house as I type, because I kind of need it. [Especially after the whole Breeders "Fate to Fatal"/Record Store Day disaster, but that's another story.]

The song itself is sung from Annie to Anthonio, and the promo for this one has been ridiculous. Handwritten letters from one to the other sent out, even a rebuttal single from Anthonio himself called Annie showed up at one point.

In all honesty, I'm not even really a huge fan of Annie - more of her work with Richard X whom I absolutely adore - but such a cool physical product in a day and age where it is usually an afterthought totally hits me in all the right places. Huzzah!

'Murmur' is so amazing...

...it's kind of silly that anyone even bothered trying after it came out.

I mean, really.

the new Jarvis Cocker single...

...is fucking FANTASTIC. I mean really, really good. And it's produced by Steve Albini.

LOOK AT THAT SLEEVE! SO GOOD.

I didn't care much for his first solo album, but based on this 'Further Complications' can't come fast enough.

new Kasabian stuff

Kasabian's third LP is finally on its way to us, a bit later than expected. That's the album artwork - I'm not too keen on it. The nod to the first LP's masked man is nice, but I find it a bit busy and the choice of red for their logo buries it a bit. Sad - I was a big fan of the art for both previous campaigns.

"Vlad the Impaler" was available for download from the official site a while back but is gone now. [You can find it if you look not too hard.] It wasn't as immediate as previous lead singles, however with some time it has proven to be a grower.

The video for the first "proper" single "Fire" is available to view at their website. I like it, but it is not at all what I was expecting. Not a bad thing, and now I have no idea what to expect from the album. Exciting.

Single on June 1st - no tracklisting yet, but please give us a Jagz Kooner mix - and album in mid-June. Supposedly the US release will be the day following the UK release, but we'll see.

Personally, I can't wait. Hopefully it won't be a disappointment like most of the rest of 2009 has been so far.

box sets done right: Girls Aloud

Say what you will about Girls Aloud, but it appears that they know how to take care of their [admittedly insanely obsessed] fans.

Just announced through their website, a limited edition of 5000 copies box set of all of their singles. Each single comes backed with every b-side from every format - physical, digital, CD, vinyl, doesn't matter, it's there. On top of that, stray compilation remixes get partnered with their appropriate single and random tracks that were on the best of bonus disc are with their parent single. We're talking everything here - if there was an edit version, full length, and dub version of a given remix, it's in here. Amazing. It'll run ya about $100 US, but some of us are crazy enough to fork it over. Ahem. [It's an instant collectors item so I will have no problem unloading it should I suffer from buyers remorse and/or decide I don't need a zillion remixes of "The Promise".]

The only downside is it does contain their abysmal cover of "Walk This Way" with the Sugababes from a few years ago, so I do finally have to buy that. Boo! [Though completist points for including it. Well played, girls.]

All packaged in a nice metal box too. Much easier than trying to track down a gazillion out of print CD singles and poor bitrate mp3s. Huzzah!

update: So it turns out there are a few things missing - the Jeremy Wheatley "Can't Speak French" for one. However, overall they did a better job than most compiling it and in this day and age that's good enough. Not letting us know when we ordered it that it's not shipping until the end of June - that's 2 months away! - when they've already charged us for it was a bit nasty, but there you have it.

single formatting done right: "Did you see me coming?"

So.

The official Pet Shop Boys site says "Did you see me coming?" is being released on June 1st on the following formats:


2-track CD
1. Did you see me coming?
2. After the event
Maxi CD
1. Did you see me coming? (PSB 12" mix)
2. The former enfant terrible
3. Up and down
12” Vinyl
1A Did you see me coming? (PSB 12” mix)
1B Did you see me coming? (Unicorn Kid mix)
2 The way it used to be (Richard X mix)
Digital Bundle 1
1. Did you see me coming?
2. Pet Shop Boys Brits medley
Digital Bundle 2
1. Did you see me coming? (Unicorn Kid mix)
2. The way it used to be (Richard X mix)
Digital Bundle 3
1. Did you see me coming? (PSB 12” mix)
2. The former enfant terrible (Bring it on mix)

Nice tracklist there. A Richard X mix of something was on my wishlist when talking about potential remixers with "the boys" and I rarely get my wish, so that's nice. Three new b-sides is also a treat, and a 12" format this time makes me super happy. All of this almost makes up for the second single not being "All over the world".

However.

I'm over these digital exclusive tracks. And that had better not be the artwork on the official site because it is fucking ugly. Oh well. It's more right than "Love etc." was, so I'll give them that.

record poor day

Today was the second annual Record Store Day...and I did not enjoy it one bit.

Mostly because neither store I went to had any of the Breeders handscreened 'Fate to Fatal' EPs - the physical format only available on this day at stores participating, supposedly - and now I have to settle for a digital copy come Tuesday from stupid iTunes.

It also didn't help that everyone was very pushy today - I was actually pushed out of the way of a box of records. OK, not very hard, but still...really?

And to top all of that off, I'm not at Coachella dancing in the desert to Hercules & Love Affair.

:(

I love it when you take me in the white

Going into 2009, there were three albums above all others that I was most excited for. The Super Furry Animals album totally fucking tanked and broke my heart. The new Pet Shop Boys album is all kinds of amazing and is on constant play in my car. Of the third - and possibly my most anticipated - Charlotte Hatherley's 'Cinnabar City' we had heard very little.

Until now.

Skope Mag has hooked us up with a free download of the album's first single, "White". It's an indie-guitar-disco-glitterball covered masterpiece and generally makes 2009 a better place. Head on over to grab your copy and be prepared to have it on repeat for days.

We're also apparently getting a proper US release and tour for this one which has me all kinds of excited. Bring it.

a reissue I can get behind

FINALLY - the US remix of 'Rio' is getting an official CD release.

Posted on Duran Duran's myspace - and I'm sure other places:

Mining the DD catalogue, EMI will be releasing two gems on June 29th (UK)/June 30th (US): The DVD/CD DURAN DURAN – LIVE HAMMERSMITH ‘82! and DURAN DURAN: RIO (2 CD SPECIAL EDITION).


LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH 82! is a much anticipated release among followers of the band. Filmed and recorded in the latter part of 1982 as Duranmania was sweeping England, the performance at London’s Hammersmith Odeon includes “Rio,” “Hungry like the Wolf,” “Girls on Film,” fan favorite “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” and more. The release also includes “Rio” era videos and two “Top of the Pops” performances.


The RIO 2 CD SPECIAL EDITION is made up of the UK release of the “Rio” album, the original US Harvest album remixes (enabling US listens to programme their CD to be able to listen to the original version), Manchester Square demos, B-Sides, remixes and other surprises.


Full track listing for both releases below.
Keep checking back to Duranduran.com for more information!

DVD/CD: Duran Duran – Live Hammersmith '82!
DVD:
Live at Hammersmith ’82:-
Rio
Hungry Like The Wolf
Night Boat
New Religion
Save A Prayer
Planet Earth
Friends Of Mine
Careless Memories
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Girls On Film
Rio era videos:-
My Own Way
Hungry Like The Wolf
Save A Prayer
Lonely In Your Nightmare
Rio
The Chauffeur
Top Of The Pops Performances:-
Hungry Like The Wolf (May 13th, 1982)
Rio (November 18th, 1982)

Duran Duran: Rio (2 CD Special Edition)
CD 1:
Original UK album
1/ Rio
2/ My Own Way
3/ Lonely In Your Nightmare
4/ Hungry Like The Wolf
5/ Hold Back The Rain
6/ New Religion
7/ Last Chance On The Stairway
8/ Save A Prayer
9/ The Chauffeur
Original US album mixes released on Harvest/Capitol ST-12211 released November 1982
10/Rio (US album remix)
11/My Own Way (Carnival remix)
12/Lonely In Your Nightmare (US album remix)
13/Hungry Like The Wolf (US album remix)
14/Hold Back The Rain (US album remix)

This enables the US listener to programme their CD to play the original US version of the album.


CD 2:
The Manchester Square demos (recorded 28th August 1981):
1/ Last Chance On The Stairway
2/ My Own Way
3/ New Religion
4/ Like An Angel
Non album singles and B-Sides:
5/ My Own Way (original 7” version) (3.39)
6/ Like An Angel
UK single B side
7/ Careless Memories (live)
UK single B side
8/ The Chauffeur (Blue Silver) (early version)
UK single B side
Versions & Mixes:
9/ My Own Way (Night version)
UK 12" single
10/Hungry Like The Wolf (Night version)
UK 12" single
11/ Rio (Night version)
Dutch 12" Carnival E.P
12/New Religion (Carnival remix)
Japanese 12" Carnival E.P.

13/Hold Back The Rain (Carnival remix)
US 12" Carnival E.P.


Digital only extras:
14/My Own Way (Instrumental version) (6.32)
15/Hold Back The Rain (Alternate remix) (6.38)

--

Digital only extras? Boo! I'll wait for a price point to make a call on the live package but I need the 2-disc 'Rio' in my hands yesterday. Maybe they'll follow these up with sets for 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger' and 'Notorious'. Please?

wrong!

The physical CD formats of Depeche Mode's "Wrong" will also apparently be released in cardsleeves.

Fuckers.

yes?

So.

Official word of a vinyl format for 'Yes'...which costs a mere £300.00.

11 LPs - a track per side with the instrumental [exclusive, of course] on the b-side - in a ridiculously nice box. This isn't an album, it's a piece of art. Full info at the Vinyl Factory.

I was hoping for something a little more...affordable.

My birthday is May 6th, by the way - not long after this one is available - for those that might need a gift idea...

nostalgia

Remember how important Radiohead used to be? How much their music used to mean?

Not to be stuck in the past - though I probably am on this one - or to be "like that", but even 'Pablo Honey' [as good as it really is, the weakest of the first three LPs] blows anything they've done since 1998 out of the water.

*sigh* Such is the cost of 'OK Computer', I suppose.

boo etc.

The UK singles for "Love etc." come packaged in card sleeves.

:(

On top of that, there's still no news of a vinyl format for the single.

:( :(

There are rumors of an LP pressing of 'Yes' coming in July...perhaps concurrent with the second single release, a la the vinyl release of 'Fundamentalism Vol 2' / the "Minimal" single release? Hrm...

[The single is also available on US iTunes today.]

it's official

I think it's safe to say now that it's not going to get better with further listens.

I will go on record saying I hate 'Dark Days / Light Years' by Super Furry Animals. It makes me impossibly sad to say - well, type - that, but it's true. What a steaming pile of a record.

It is a sad day indeed.

On the other hand, I do not hate the new studio recordings of Jane's Addiction's "Whores" and "Chip Away". Ho-ly shit are things things fucking a-mazing. Get yourself over to the Jane's Addiction website to get yourself a free copy, because good lord they're fucking ridiculous. They're part of a sampler that also contains two Nine Inch Nails and two Street Sweeper tracks, but really who the fuck cares? Jane's Addiction rockin' 2009 like they never went anywhere - who saw that coming?

I'm so excited [and I just can't hide it]

I love nice surprises...and after a pretty crappy winter, I could use a few.

This one tops the list though. You'll probably remember me gushing about how amazing Lorraine - and specifically their single "When I Return To The World" - are/were/will always be/whatever. [Joe, I will always be in your debt for this one.] So then they up and disappeared, right? Or so you thought...

Apparently they reappeared last fall as Black Room with the never released Lorraine album 'Pop Noir' ready to go. It is out in Japan - because, you know, all the best pop is HUGE in Japan even when no one else loves them, see also Gloss - and on iTunes in other parts of the world. Including the US.

It's basically the "Heaven", "I Feel It", "Saved" and "When I Return To The World" singles with five or six new songs - "I Feel It" appears to have been re-recorded - but whatever. It's fucking ace and you should go buy it right now. There's also a Japanese only 7" - how elite - with "Confetti" as the b-side [that marks the third time it has been used as a b-side for those keeping track]. And "Italian Girlfriend" is apparently a Japan-only b-side, but you've already got it on the "I Feel It" single, right? It's on iTunes as well, so no worries.

Anyways. Go to their myspace for previews since there's pretty much nothing on Youtube. Potential album of the year material here.

crushed

As a general rule, very little gets me as excited as a new SFA album. So yesterday being the digital release date of album 9 'Dark Days/Light Years' was overall a pretty good day. I had troubles connecting to the site in the afternoon when it first became available, however by the evening things had calmed down and I was able to log in and grab it.

First thought: the artwork is less of a collaboration between Pete Fowler and Keiichi Tanaami and more the shoving together of the artwork for 'Phantom Power' and 'Hey Venus!'. Very lazy and disappointing.

Second thought: the album is not very good. At all. Teaser single "Inaugural Trams" was decent - not their strongest, but a step up lead single wise from "Show Your Hand" I'd say - but it is sadly the best thing on here. The rest is either SFA-ish but really underwhelming ["White Socks/Flip Flops", "Inconvenience"], a good idea executed poorly ["Cardiff In The Sun", "Mt.", "The Very Best of Neil Diamond"], or really just shit ["Crazy Naked Girls" is so fucking awful I'm shocked].

I suppose a bad SFA album was bound to happen eventually.

something awful

So, this is apparently the new Tori Amos album cover then.

Terrible. Horrible picture [she is WAY too made up], wretched font. The tracklist is out there, but all you need to know is it is made up of 17 songs and probably twice as long as it needs to be.

'American Doll Posse' was a step in the right direction after the mis-steps of, oh, everything else she's release this decade. Hopefully this continues in that direction, but I'm not exactly holding my breath.

Something better - the Pet Shop Boys have put up a 10-minute megamix preview of 'Yes' on their site and it's fab. Also, the new SFA single out there and it is also wonderful if not quite as impactful as previous lead singles have been. I realized the other day that both of those albums come out on the same day - in the UK and the wide world of the internets respectively, that is. In the US, they both join 'Sounds of the Universe' on April 21. It's a super synthpop Tuesday!