15 October 2014

15 October 2014 - Zedd (feat. Foxes) - Clarity / Foxes (feat. Matthew Koma) - Clarity

I waited an awfully long time to post this.  Mostly because I got really sick of it when it was overplayed.  I mean, it's a well-written song, and Zedd is a pretty good DJ, and Foxes has a pretty solid voice, and was able to own this very emotional yet heavily electronic song despite being so young and untested.



Then I heard this.  And I heard the ache and longing.  I heard the power of Foxes's voice - who really makes this song hers with a simple piano accompaniment - and I heard the power of Matthew Koma's (who wrote the song and is an excellent performer in his own right) (and who still couldn't stand up to Foxes) and suddenly I wasn't sick of it anymore.




10 October 2014

10 October 2014 - 5 Seconds of Summer - She Looks So Perfect

Forget that these very photogenic boys are being compared to and adored to the levels of One Direction (they are colloquially known as 5SOS).  Forget all the comparisons to Blink 182 and Green Day. Forget how absolutely boring "Amnesia" was. Forget the clear American Apparel name drop.  Forget how ridiculous this video is and how many people they got to take off their clothes for it.

This song absolutely rocks, from the opening rift to the last chord.  No one can forget that or deny that.

09 October 2014

9 October 2014 - Transvision Vamp - I Want Your Love

I don't know why I haven't posted Transvision Vamp, one of the most underrated bands of the 80's and early 90's, before today.   Why were they underrated?  Probably because Wendy James was too sexy, had hair that was too blonde, and showed too much boob and leg.  Oh, yeah, she was blonde AND British AND dared to be the front person of a rock band, so they must be just like The Darling Buds (let's not even get into the fact that Andrea Lewis is Welsh here.  We'll do that on May 6th.) and The Primitives (Tracy was going more Marilyn with her look than sexpot). 

The fact that Transvision Vamp had their roots in Agent Orange and X-Ray Spex (Anthouny Doughty), and members went on to somewhat successful solo (Wendy James) and band (bassist Dave Parsons was in Bush after TV) careers... that doesn't seem to matter.  But the fact is, they were an excellent power pop band with two great albums and a 3rd that wasn't awful.

And I'll say it.  I'd love to hear a 4th.

This is a song so good, it was on both of their first two albums, the excellent Pop Art and the woefully underrated (in the United States) Velveteen (in my opinion, one of the five best albums of all time) The song was only included on US pressings of Velveteen, but I still have my copy purchased on the day of its release to prove it was there. 

But this song is just a perfect piece of power pop that will get you going even on your worst days.  A top 5 hit in most of the civilized world in 1988, it failed to chart in the States.  Which is just a crime.



03 October 2014

3 October 2014 - Natalia Kills - Zombie

I am on a bit of a Natalia Kills kick of late.  Scott posted one of her songs more than a year ago, and that is a gem.  Of course, that song is called "Problem", which just happens to have the same title as a little Ariana Grande song that did a little better on the charts (and was also a gem).