Archive for January, 2017

Techno for smashing fascists

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

I get that in times of strife and hardship, distractions are important. They’ve certainly served me well this week. In light of all the horrible ills that have befallen us all, I find a great source of escapism in film. The boyfriend and I recent purchased an amazing Hammer Films box set, so I’ve been drowning my sorrows in copious amounts of Peter Cushing being a bad motherfucker.

I also have been absorbing a shitton of Giant Bomb content right now. They’ve seemingly always been there for me. When I went through a horribly painful fit of depression three years ago, the Bombcast was always a three-hour block where I could for sure keep away the demons and darkness.

So please, right now, do your best to stay sane. While it’s important to fight the good fight in any way you can, it’s important to take time to collect yourself as well. Whether it be video games, movies, music or just talking a nice long walk. Find something that can distract you, and hold onto it when needed.

Just don’t expect that thing to be this blog. Because fuck that orange assclown with a rusty crowbar.

Seriously, could someone do that? I’m sure Pence would like to watch.

The Art Of Noise
Instruments Of Darkness (All Of Us Are One People) (The Prodigy Mix)
Sometimes you stumble upon a track at just the right time. Right when I first read that Trump was instituting his curb-stomp earning racist ban on legal immigration, I was listening to this song for the very first time. An aggressive acid house track with a chorus consisting of nothing but the platitude of “all of us are one people” may be over simplistic and a bit on the nose, but it sure hit the spot for how I felt at that exact minute.

Nine Inch Nails
Capital G (Switch Remix)
The Hand That Feeds (Photek Ruff Mix)
Neither of these remixes are as good as the album versions. But they’re still quality, and good soundtracks to breaking shit and spray painting graffiti of Trump with a tiny dick and a klan hood on.

I mean, if you wanna do that.

Posted in NIN, remixes, The Art Of Noise | 5 Comments »

Japanese Synthpop by Bands who aren’t YMO

Sunday, January 22nd, 2017

I realize that this has been a stressful and/or depressing weekend for many of you, and I’m right there with you. However, I need some time to decompress before I talk about politics again, for my own mental health. I hope you’re all doing what you can do to stay healthy and fuck up Nazis. Try to do both in equal measures.

In the meantime, I finally finished part four of my guide to YMO! Yeah, it took me a year, sorry about that. Life got in the way at first, and then a serious case writer’s block regarding exactly how to cover the solo careers of the YMO members. I ended up changing it up quite a bit from the previous parts of the guide, I hope you all like it.

I still have at least three more sections of that guide planned. The next will cover side-projects, which I suspect won’t take nearly as long as there aren’t that many. After that I’m going to write on the multitudes of YMO associates out there. There are a metric shitload of those, but I have records by almost all of them, so it should’t be all that hard.

If that all goes well, I’ll close out with a special in-depth look at…something cool. Anyways, here’s some great music by Japanese new wave/synthpop artists who aren’t YMO.

Hikasu
Rhetorics & Logic
Model
So I don’t know all that much about these guys other than the fact that they’re highly lauded among the more experimental types in Japan. They’re first album came out in 1980 and they’re still going strong today (with some major line-up changes along the way) they’ve released something like 20 albums I guess.

If their first album (the only one I have) is any indication, they were inspired by Kraftwerk and Talking Heads. So if that sounds good to you (and it fucking should), check it. A few of their newer albums are even on American iTunes, they’re…something.

Ippu-Do
Break Out Generation
Panic In The City
Of the three bands I’m featuring here tonight, I think Ippu-Do are the least known. They pumped out four studio albums and a live record between 1980 and 1984, but broke up soon after. I don’t think any of their studio albums proper have even been released on CD save for a limited edition box set that goes for a mint now.

As such, I don’t have much by them, just their 1980 sophomore album Normal. It’s good, but its much less of a synthpop record and much more a general “new wave” record, even with some fairly standard rock songs on it. It’s kind of uneven, to be honest, but considering the cult following the group has, I imagine their other records have more interesting stuff on them. I certainly dig the tracks I’m sharing here.

P-Model
Health Angel
(Love) Story
Art Mania
When P-Model started out they were a good, if relatively by-the-numbers synthpop act. Throughout the years they went through many line-up and stylistic changes, however, eventually covering everything from punk, psychedelic rock, experimental electronica and even prog rock.

So they’re kind of like Yes, but backwards.

Anyways, after finding three of their albums and absolutely loving everything about them, I’ve decided that they’re my new YMO project. Gonna hunt down everything. If it all ends up being great, except a multi-part guide on them on my other blog sometime this year. Give or take.

Somehow you can currently buy two of P-Model’s albums on the US iTunes store and I highly recommend you do as they are fucking incredible.

Posted in Hikasu, Ippu-Do, P-Model | No Comments »

Cross Continental Divas

Monday, January 9th, 2017

Happy new year!

Let’s all work together to make this year less shitty than 2016. I know it’s going to be an uphill battle. But don’t worry, I have Japanese covers of classic TV theme songs to help us get through it.

Jun Togawa
Femme Fatale
Rawhide
I’M GOING TO SEE JUN TOGAWA LIVE THIS FRIDAY I’M FUCKING STOKED.

STOKED.

Ahem. Sorry. I’m a little excited.

I was taken completely by surprise by the fact that Jun Togawa released a new CD over the holidays, the amazing Watashi Ga Na Kou Hototogisu. It’s a covers album of sorts, featuring the legendary singer performing new versions of some of her best-known tracks. Usually, that’s the kind of thing that bores me to tears, but this record is special. Because the new arrangements were in part composed and performed by the Japanese post-rock/metal band Vampillia, and they really take the tracks to some crazy new places. “Suki Suki Daisuki” in particular is completely reworked, transformed into a heavy and dark nightmare that treat the song’s morbid humor with dire sincerity. It’s amazing.

But I’m not sharing that, because you can buy it on iTunes in America! So you should do that!

So instead, I’m sharing these two fairly rare covers that are on the singer’s three-disc greatest hits and rarities set. Yes, the second one is a cover of the TV theme song.

It’s great.

Eartha Kitt
I Love Men (Dance Remix)
I Love Men (Dance Remix Instrumental)
So I’m listening to this and I immediately think, “well, this must’ve been a hit in the gay clubs back in the day.” And while there’s no “gay club top 10” Billboard chart, there is the Billboard Dance Chart, which is pretty much the same thing. This track made it to number seven on that chart, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions.

I suspect this track was made specifically with gay clubs in mind. The fact that it was produced and co-written by Village People producer Jacques Morali and so-gay-he’s-made-of-rainbows writer/comedian Bruce Vilanch, I think my suspicions are entirely spot-on.

Everything about this track is great, from the by then retro disco production to the “vampire cat lady” vocal styling of the legendary Kitt. A hell of a dance classic that is ripe for rediscovery. It’s songs like this that make me almost want to seriously become a club DJ. Because if I’m not going to drop these banging tracks into the club, then who the hell will?

Posted in Eartha Kitt, Jun Togawa, remixes | 5 Comments »