Archive for the ‘Skunk Anansie’ Category

Skunk & Skin

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

The last of the Skunk Anansie posts, and it’s a big one.

If anyone has a real, legitimate live version of “Selling Jesus” I would be eternally grateful if they shared it with me.

Skunk Anansie
Hedonism (Allegedly Acoustic Mix)
Twisted (Everyday Hurts) (Cake mix)
Pickin On Me (Pick ‘n Mix)
She’s My Heroine (Polyester and Cotton Mix)
Milk is My Sugar (Cement Mix)
Yes It’s Fucking Political (Comix)
Weak (Ackee & Saltfish Mix)
Charity (Clit Pop Mix)
100 Ways To Be A Good Girl (Anti Matter Mix)
Rise Up (Bonhamoon Mix)
You’ll Follow Me Down (Rollo & Sister Bliss [From Faithless] Mix)
You’ll Follow Me Down (Golden Ashes Mix)
Secretly (Optical Vocal Mix)

I always find it odd when rock bands allow their decidedly non-dance friendly tracks to be remixed.  Its an especially odd move for Skunk Anansie, since all their tracks are either emotional ballads about how much love is a motherfucker or aggressive metal about political injustice and racism. I would hate to be Rollo and Sister Bliss when they were handed “You’ll Follow Me Down,” a song about loving a junkie, with the intention of it getting remixed for the clubs. Still, they did a pretty good job.

I would like to know who came up with the idea of a “Clit Pop Mix.” I don’t know if I love or hate that name.

Anyways, these are all from a multitude of CD singles. Thanks to everyone who indulged me in these posts. The next one will have some 80s shit I promise.

Skin
Getting Away With It
From what I can tell Skin’s solo career didn’t exactly take off. That was to be expected in America, but her lack of runaway success in England is kind of a bummer. Both of her solo albums are alright, but are very ballad heavy. Maybe there isn’t a market for a black bald chick singing romantic ballads? It is interesting that she’s is apparently a celebrity of some sorts in non-English speaking Europe, especially in Italy where she had a hit single (“Tear Down These Houses”) on a soundtrack to a hit movie (Parlami d’Amore). Of course, neither are available in America.

Also unavailable in America is Skin’s first solo album, Flesh Wounds; which is a shame because it’s quite good. This beautiful cover of Electronic’s “Getting Away From It” is from that album.

Live Skunk

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

This is post number two in my Skunk Anansie love fest. Probably at least one more of these coming next week. I have a shitton of remixes I want to get out there as well. Don’t forget, their new album, Wonderlustre, comes out on September 13th! It doesn’t look like a physical release is coming to America anytime soon, but you will be able to buy in on Amazon!

Disclaimer: None of that was a paid ad. I just enjoy being a whore for bands I like.

Skunk Anansie
I Can Dream (Live)
Punk By Numbers (Live)
Charity (Live)
And Here I Stand (Live)
It Takes Blood & Guts to Be This Cool But I’m Still Just a Cliche (Live)
Intellectualize My Blackness (Live)
Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good) (Live)
The Skank Heads (Live)

In my last post I mentioned that I was moderately bummed about Skunk Anansie’s reunion announcement, because it didn’t include any North American tour dates.  Whenever I listen to these live tracks (gathered from various singles) I just get more bummed because damn, they sound good live. The best bit is at the end of “I Can Dream” and “And Here I Stand” when the crowd goes nuts and Skin just shrugs it off by saying “Yeah, yeah.”

She knows she’s a bad motherfucker.

Skunked

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

This post, and the next few, will all be dedicated to my favorite band with a black bisexual skinhead lead singer.

Skunk Anansie got back together and have a new album coming out in just a couple weeks! I am both excited and depressed about this. I am excited because, fuck, it’s new Skunk Anansie! I love them! I discovered them in 1995 when I saw Strange Days in the theater (my mom and I were two of the eight people who actually saw that movie in the theater). Their amazing song “Selling Jesus” is in that film, and Skin shows up briefly in the movie,a white cross painted across her face. It was a fucking amazing image, and the song was brillaint. However, this was before the age of iTunes and MP3s, and it took me a year to find a fucking CD by the band in a CD store. I bought their third (and until recently, final) CD Post Orgasmic Chill on import, paying 30 some bucks for the fucker. I still have the CD, but the case melted in my car during a Radiohead concert. Which was annoying. Anyways, in case you can’t already tell, I’m a pretty big fan of the group, which is why I’m depressed as much as I am stoked.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, the newly reunited Skunk Anansie is never going to play America. Their new single “My Ugly Boy” (which is EXCELLENT) isn’t going to crack American radio. Shit, their new album might not even get a proper physical release here in the states. I really want the vinyl copy because, well, I want vinyl. But I’d have to pay import prices for that, which sucks. Hopefully someone will pick it up for a US release, but it’ll probably happen after the online release, which means I’ll be buying the damn album twice. Oh well, that’s two more than everyone else in America most likely.

Skunk Anansie
All I Want (DVS Mix)
But The Sex Was Good
Fragile
Every Bitch But Me
Punk By Numbers
Black Skinhead Coconut Fight

Skunk Anansie, like every British band in the 90s, released 80 billion different singles, each with their own b-sides, remixes and live cuts.  Over the next few days I’ll be putting some choice cuts from these up. These tracks are all b-sides from the “All I Want” single.