Archive for the ‘Love & Rockets’ Category

Mirror Mirror

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Now that I finished the mannoth undertaking that was The Lost Turntable Guide To Recording Vinyl, I’m starting to wonder what I should try next. Is there anything in the guide that I left out? Any topics that any of you thought I should have covered but didn’t? I’m thinking about writing something about what to look for when buying vinyl, because if there’s one thing I’m really good at, it’s spending money on records. Would anyone be interested in that?

 

Anyways, this is the last post for the week, and I probably won’t post until the second half of next week, thanks to some work commitments (which are good) and family commitments (which are more of a mixed bag).

One good thing, if all goes well this weekend I should be coming back to Pittsburgh with a new turntable! It’s not going to replace my Technics, but it’s certainly an interesting deck. If I get it I’ll be sure to do a full write-up, most of you have probably never seen anything like it.

Love And Rockets
Mirror People (88 Version Re-Recorded)
Mirror People (88 Version Edited)
What a weird song, and not just because of the lyrics, but because there are so many damn versions of it. The original version of “Mirror People” leads off the band’s 1987 tour-de-force Earth Sun Moon, and if you have the CD or digital editions of the album, a “slow version” of the song serves as the record’s coda.

However,  a year after the album came out the band re-recorded the song, as a more fast-paced and polished work that was no doubt intended to capitalize off of the band’s success with the single “No New Tale To Tell.” This new version is a lot less shoe-gazey than the original, and has much more of a “punchier” sound over all. I’m sure it was all a tactic to turn the song into a hit single, although I don’t think it worked. I have to say though that I prefer this version, I’m always a sucker for some more anthemic sounding drums. I do love the wall-of-sound production of the original too though.

The B-52’s
Channel Z (Rock Mix)
Channel Z (Remix Edit)
Channel Z (Rock Dub)
I just like saying “Channel Z” like  Fred Schneider does in the beginning of this song.

“Channel ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Okay, yeah so maybe I wrote so much stuff this week that I’ve ran out of constructive or interesting things to say, what’s your point?

Posted in B-52s, Love & Rockets, remixes | 6 Comments »

When will Charles Bronson get his own song?

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

In an effort to post all the crap I’ve accumulated over the past few weeks tonight’s post is completely random. Anyone who can find a connection between these three artists gets a cookie.

Mmmmm…cookies.

Love And Rockets
R.I.P. 20C (D.eath M.etal T.echno Mix)
R.I.P. 20C (R.I.P.ella)
When I hear the name “Love And Rockets” I think of the chill folk sound of Earth, Sun, Moon. To be honest, my knowledge of their 90s output was practically nil when I picked up the 12″ single that had these crazy remixes of this crazy song, which is nothing more than singer Daniel Ash droning off a list of acronyms behind a pulsing beat. I mean, I like it, but damn it’s not what I expected. Anyone care to comment on the quality of Love And Rockets later material? Anything worth picking up?

Ayla
Liebe (ATB Remix)
Liebe (Minimalism Remix)
Liebe (Cyrus & The Joker)
Aside from what I read on Last.fm five minutes ago, I know nothing about Ayla. I bought this 12″ single because of the ATB remix. And since I’m being honest I’ll confess that I know little about him aside from some remixes he’s done and his debut single “9PM (‘Till I Come),” which I fucking love. I also love this track, although in my opinion it sounds shockingly similar to the previously mentioned ATB track, maybe that’s why ATB remixed it?

Sheryl Crow
Steve McQueen (The Minge Binge Great Escape Mix)
Steve McQueen (The Minge Binge Great Escape Dub)
Steve McQueen (Jorio’s Lectoluv Vocal)
Steve McQueen (Jorio’s Lectroluv Dub)
Okay, I feel as if I should preface my discussion of this song with the following: I HATE Sheryl Crow. For real. I cannot stand her. I hate her stupid whiny voice, I hate her boring inane lyrics and I abso-fucking-lutely hate her hideous cover of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” I only like two songs of hers, and this is one of them.

I really like this song. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s just because I like Steve McQueen? I don’t consider it a guilty pleasure though. I hate that term. To paraphrase Chuck Klosterman, a song cannot be a guilty pleasure because it’s not actually causing you any harm. Cocaine, now that’s a guilty pleasure.

To me, a song like this is an “angry pleasure.” It pisses me off that I like it so much. Other examples for me include The All-American Rejects’ song “Dirty Little Secret” (which is kind of ironic if you think about it) and Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer.” I really hate that I like those songs.

The horribly-named “Minge Binge Great Escape” version is pretty much just the original sped up. The “Lectoluv” versions are much better, and transform the song into something barely recognizable as a Sheryl Crow tune (which is really for the best).

And for the record, the other song of her’s I like is “Safe And Sound.” That song is so beautiful that it almost makes me want to forgive Crow for “A Change Would Do You Good.”

Almost.

Posted in Ayla, Love & Rockets, remixes, Sheryl Crow | 11 Comments »