Oh! He's popped up again! It's like spotting the Loch Ness Monster, honestly...
So, the reviews...
Let's get the "meh" tracks out of the way first. Miss Andreea Balan sounds like a million other "vague-voiced, autotuned-to-death" wannabee singers out there; not worth the effort. Similarly Miss Brezhneva - despite the "cute boy video", I am not sure why she bothered; she might as well have phoned the vocals in.
I tried desperately to like the Hurts' new one, but despite several attempts, I really don't. And I was never hugely fond of "Johnny & Mary" when Robert Palmer did the original, but Mr Ferry really shouldn't have done this dreary "whispering" version of it.
Miss Fame has the right attitude, the right look, and the lyrics and "industrial" sounds could have made a great song; shame then that is really isn't one. And I am so so sorry Madge, but I am afraid "Bitch I'm Madonna" is like fingernails down a blackboard...
Of the rest?
I am in two minds about Tooji's "The Father Project". The video is, of course, a fantastic bit of "art-porn", and the anti-religious message is right up my street. The song? It may take a few more listens; or then again, maybe not. Speaking of totty - never having been much of a Brit-indie-pop fanboy, I surprised myself how much I liked that Spector number. It helps somewhat that there was a cute boy-bum in the video, no doubt :-) And completing a triumvirate of competing gay-cutie-ness, there's Cassandre; nice video, somewhat OTT (typically French) power-ballad.
I could have sworn Mika was singing "where have all the GAY guys gone", which I suppose might have been appropriate, I suppose. A pleasant enough, if somewhat unmemorable song. Bless 'im. Similarly lightweight, Years and Years and Years and Years [ad infinitum] are THE band of the moment, of course. However I think of them as the "Lana del Rey of the boy-band world". Or maybe "Marmite"?
Feder's "Goodbye" is a weird thingy, isn't it? Takes me back (in a way) to the trippy type of music around at the end of the 60s, via the acid house "chillout zone" of the 90s. Rather fab, actually! And, of course, Miss Róisín Murphy can do no wrong in my (evil) eyes. Her videos are art-forms in their own right.
Thank heavens for Alcazar! Guaranteed to bring a smile to my face, every time... And you are already more than well aware that Uriel Yukutiel always has the same effect. The gorgeous Kazaky, too, never fail to - ahem - "perk" me up; I love this gayer-than-gay video, too.
However, if there has to be a winner... then it has to be Miss Violet Chachki, whose song and video (despite fleeting comparisons to Miss Fame) I think are bloody brilliant! "Bettie", we love you!
An excellently eclectic playlist, as always.
Are you ever going to reappear more than once every few months, my dear..?
Hmmm, yeah, I am actually starting to feel much like that Loch Ness thingy... time just escapes me...
My thoughts on some of the tracks: the numbers by Miss Brezhneva and Miss Balan had much more to do with the videos rather then the actual songs. Miss Balan does fancy herself as quite the goddess, it seems...
I have to agree about the Hurts song - I want to like it and there are some good elements in it but I still can't get on board. As for Madonna, she can never do anything wrong it seems in my book. While it is most certainly not one of her best I find it quite fun and catchy.
As for Tooji, I think the song and video is entertaining in a bit of a "B-movie" sort of way. The Spector song surprised me too, my love for Britpop is generally rather limited. Oh, and I believe that Mika does actually sing "gay guys" in one of the verses...
The Years & Years album is rather good, as I expected. They are no Dame Lana but I really like them. Feder's song is all sorts of fabulous, me thinks - and yes, Miss Murphy is always amazing (love her new album).
Aaaah, Alcazar! I recently watched an hour long outdoors concert from Sweden where they did one huge salute to the beauty that is disco, both with their own songs and covers. They rarely disappoint. As for Violet Chachki, that song is one of my faves from this selection - and I am convinced that the video is made from outtakes from Bewitched ;)
I'm on my way over to the Razzle Dazzle as soon as I can - it has indeed been a while.
5 comments:
Oh! He's popped up again! It's like spotting the Loch Ness Monster, honestly...
So, the reviews...
Let's get the "meh" tracks out of the way first. Miss Andreea Balan sounds like a million other "vague-voiced, autotuned-to-death" wannabee singers out there; not worth the effort. Similarly Miss Brezhneva - despite the "cute boy video", I am not sure why she bothered; she might as well have phoned the vocals in.
I tried desperately to like the Hurts' new one, but despite several attempts, I really don't. And I was never hugely fond of "Johnny & Mary" when Robert Palmer did the original, but Mr Ferry really shouldn't have done this dreary "whispering" version of it.
Miss Fame has the right attitude, the right look, and the lyrics and "industrial" sounds could have made a great song; shame then that is really isn't one. And I am so so sorry Madge, but I am afraid "Bitch I'm Madonna" is like fingernails down a blackboard...
Of the rest?
I am in two minds about Tooji's "The Father Project". The video is, of course, a fantastic bit of "art-porn", and the anti-religious message is right up my street. The song? It may take a few more listens; or then again, maybe not. Speaking of totty - never having been much of a Brit-indie-pop fanboy, I surprised myself how much I liked that Spector number. It helps somewhat that there was a cute boy-bum in the video, no doubt :-) And completing a triumvirate of competing gay-cutie-ness, there's Cassandre; nice video, somewhat OTT (typically French) power-ballad.
I could have sworn Mika was singing "where have all the GAY guys gone", which I suppose might have been appropriate, I suppose. A pleasant enough, if somewhat unmemorable song. Bless 'im. Similarly lightweight, Years and Years and Years and Years [ad infinitum] are THE band of the moment, of course. However I think of them as the "Lana del Rey of the boy-band world". Or maybe "Marmite"?
Feder's "Goodbye" is a weird thingy, isn't it? Takes me back (in a way) to the trippy type of music around at the end of the 60s, via the acid house "chillout zone" of the 90s. Rather fab, actually! And, of course, Miss Róisín Murphy can do no wrong in my (evil) eyes. Her videos are art-forms in their own right.
Thank heavens for Alcazar! Guaranteed to bring a smile to my face, every time... And you are already more than well aware that Uriel Yukutiel always has the same effect. The gorgeous Kazaky, too, never fail to - ahem - "perk" me up; I love this gayer-than-gay video, too.
However, if there has to be a winner... then it has to be Miss Violet Chachki, whose song and video (despite fleeting comparisons to Miss Fame) I think are bloody brilliant! "Bettie", we love you!
An excellently eclectic playlist, as always.
Are you ever going to reappear more than once every few months, my dear..?
Jx
PS You haven't visited little ol' moi for a while - I even did a "newer music" round-up blog myself recently... Jx
Hmmm, yeah, I am actually starting to feel much like that Loch Ness thingy... time just escapes me...
My thoughts on some of the tracks: the numbers by Miss Brezhneva and Miss Balan had much more to do with the videos rather then the actual songs. Miss Balan does fancy herself as quite the goddess, it seems...
I have to agree about the Hurts song - I want to like it and there are some good elements in it but I still can't get on board. As for Madonna, she can never do anything wrong it seems in my book. While it is most certainly not one of her best I find it quite fun and catchy.
As for Tooji, I think the song and video is entertaining in a bit of a "B-movie" sort of way. The Spector song surprised me too, my love for Britpop is generally rather limited.
Oh, and I believe that Mika does actually sing "gay guys" in one of the verses...
The Years & Years album is rather good, as I expected. They are no Dame Lana but I really like them. Feder's song is all sorts of fabulous, me thinks - and yes, Miss Murphy is always amazing (love her new album).
Aaaah, Alcazar! I recently watched an hour long outdoors concert from Sweden where they did one huge salute to the beauty that is disco, both with their own songs and covers. They rarely disappoint. As for Violet Chachki, that song is one of my faves from this selection - and I am convinced that the video is made from outtakes from Bewitched ;)
I'm on my way over to the Razzle Dazzle as soon as I can - it has indeed been a while.
I am so pleased you're back in circulation, my sweet - and good to have your comments! Jx
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