Category: Pop

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Electronic Music New Wave Pop Post Punk Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral): New Order – Temptation

Day 6.

Not really much to say about this one. I’ve been listening to New Order a lot recently & YouTube throws this one at me randomly quite a lot. It’s one of my favourite, if not my favourite, New Order songs. I recently shared this video on Facebook & posited the question, ‘does a more beautiful blending of melancholia and joy exist?’ If it does I’m yet to find it.

Heaven, a gateway, a hope
Just like a feeling inside, it’s no joke
And though it hurts me to see you this way
Betrayed by words, I’d never heard, too hard to say
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home

Each way I turn, I know I’ll always try
To break this circle that’s been placed around me
From time to time, I find I’ve lost some need
That was urgent to myself, I do believe
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home

Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
Oh, you’ve got grey eyes
Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
You’ve got grey eyes

And I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before
No, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go

Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before
Oh no, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before

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Electronic Music Indie Rock New Wave Pop Post Punk Song of the Day Synth Pop

Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral): The Church – Under The Milky Way

Day 4.

Okay, okay. I missed a day (or 2) & I’m sorry. This song came on randomly after I was listening to New Order on YouTube the other day. It’s stunning, cinematic Synth Pop from the end of the ’80’s, with just enough Indie cool to keep it in the company of bands like Echo & The Bunnymen & the aforementioned New Order on many a mixtape. Also a great song for a movie soundtrack, as evidenced by its appearance in a pivotal scene of madcap time-travel yarn Donnie Darko.

Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty
Sound of their breath fades with the light
I think about the loveless fascination
Under the Milky Way tonight

Lower the curtain down on Memphis
Lower the curtain down all right
I got no time for private consultation
Under the Milky Way tonight

Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find

And it’s something quite peculiar
Something shimmering and white
Leads you here despite your destination
Under the Milky Way tonight

Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find

And it’s something quite peculiar
Something shimmering and white
Leads you here despite your destination
Under the Milky Way tonight

Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find

Under the Milky Way tonight
Under the Milky Way tonight
Under the Milky Way tonight

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Indie Rock Pop Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral): The Cardigans – Erase/Rewind

Day 2.

At work we (sometimes) listen to Absolute Radio (or one of its decade themed sister stations like Absolute ’90’s) & today this song was played as I was leaving work, reminding me how great a band The Cardigans are & how great a tune this is.

This is a downtempo, sensual Indie Pop song with sonic features akin to genres as diverse as Alternative Rock & Trip Hop. Nina Persson’s saccharine vocals are particularly engrossing on Erase/Rewind, lending it a warm, inviting vibe.

The excellent video references sci-fi classics like 2001: Space Odyssey & the first Star Wars movie.

Hey, what did you hear me say
You know the difference it makes
What did you hear me say

Yes, I said it’s fine before
But I don’t think so no more
I said it’s fine before

I’ve changed my mind
I take it back
Erase and rewind
‘Cause I’ve been changing my mind
I’ve changed my mind

So, where did you see me go
It’s not the right way, you know
Where did you see me go

No, it’s not that I don’t know
I just don`t want it to grow
It’s not that I don’t know

I’ve changed my mind
I take it back

Looking for some great music? Here it is.

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Art Pop Experimental Pop Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Chaotic Neutral): Peter Gabriel – Games Without Frontiers

Day 1.

After a brief hiatus (& my first week back at work following furlough) I have settled on a new format for Song of the Day for going forward. Basically, this is just a roll of the dice. The songs are going to be ones I hear or think of throughout the course of my day. Songs heard on the radio, mentioned in a book or magazine or even spontaneously popped into my head. I may explain in the post why I’ve chosen it, if it seems interesting or will draw attention to other blogs or writers I want to promote. If I miss the odd day please bear with me. I’m calling this series Chaotic Neutral, hope you enjoy.

Today I am choosing Peter Gabriels sinister Cold War hit Games Without Frontiers. I am currently reading K-Punk, a collection of blogposts & magazine articles by the late culture writer Mark Fisher. Today I read this review of cold war thriller The Americans, in which he mentions this paranoid Pop masterpiece due to its appearance during the finale of the shows first season.

Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières

Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again
Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt
Adolf builds a bonfire, Enrico plays with it

Whistling tunes, we hide in the dunes by the seaside
Whistling tunes, we’re kissing baboons in the jungle
It’s a knockout

If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
Games without frontiers, war without tears

Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières

Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching’s is blue
They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in treetops, shouting out rude names

Whistling tunes, we hide in the dunes by the seaside
Whistling tunes, we’re kissing baboons in the jungle
It’s a knockout

If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
Games without frontiers, war without tears

Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans

Looking for some great music? Roll the dice.

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Folk Pop Rock And Roll Uncategorized

Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks): Bob Dylan – The Man In Me

Day 3. The Big Lebowski is a strong contender for my favourite film so it is a pleasure to choose a song from its soundtrack for todays Song of the Day. Bob Dylan’s The Man In Me soundtracks two separate scenes in the film, the introduction (see the first video below) & a further scene where The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is knocked out & has a hallucinatory dream (see the second video).

La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la

The man in me will do nearly any task
And as for compensation, there’s little he would ask
Take a woman like you
To get through to the man in me

Storm clouds are raging all around my door
I think to myself I might not take it any more
Take a woman like your kind
To find the man in me

But, oh, what a wonderful feeling
Just to know that you are near
Sets my a heart a-reeling
From my toes up to my ears

The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein’ seen
But that’s just because he doesn’t want turn into some machine
Took a woman like you
To get through to the man in me

La la la la
La la la la

Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify Playlist.

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Pop Punk Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Joey Ramone – What A Wonderful World

Day 17. This excellent cover of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World appeared on Don’t Worry About Me, Joey Ramone’s solo album which was released posthumously as he sadly died during its production.

For my money, it’s an absolute tour-de-force of Pop Punk. Distorted Punk riffs, a powerful, simple rhythm section & Joey Ramone’s gloriously soulful vocals combine to make one of my favourite covers of all time.

The video also reminds me that I too used to own a green N64 controller.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them blue before me and you

And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Or also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands, saying “How do you do?”
They’re really saying, I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them them grow
They’ll learn much more and I’ll never know

And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Oh yeah

Looking for some great music? Why not check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist?

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Y1kY9MQAJnZljYtPqfZiH?si=rBmb97idTTCUaggd78mzQw

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Indie Rock Pop Punk Song of the Day

Song of the Day (Covers): Ash – Cantina Band

Day 11. This is Ash’s great version of the famous piece of music (composed by John Williams) played by the Cantina band in the first Star Wars movie.

Ash deliver a fairly faithful version of the piece, livening it up with some sci-fi sound effects & a Pop Punk tempo for good measure. Star Wars always had a special place in Ash’s hearts. Their debut album, 1977 (the year of Star Wars’ release), opened with the classic (& terrifying) sound effect of a T.I.E. Fighter in flight.

Cantina Band is an instrumental, therefore it has no lyrics. In their place here’s a pic of the Cantina Band in action:

These guys

Looking for some great music? Why not check out the Song of the Day (Covers) Spotify playlist?

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Hip Hop Pop Song of the Day

Song of the Day (The Chain): Malcolm McLaren and The World’s Famous Supreme Team – Buffalo Gals

Day 37. Public Image is fairly transparently about John Lydon’s feelings towards his former manager Malcolm McLaren. Todays link in the chain is this relationship.

Buffalo Gals is Malcolm McLaren’s appropriation of the then nascent sound of Hip Hop, which he’d been exposed to in New York while seeking a support act for a Bow Wow Wow show. It’s fairly basic stuff. Scratching & sampling over a very simple (but effective) drum machine beat. Sounds so basic now but was a pretty big deal at the time.

In absence of lyrics, heres Malcolm McLaren himself explaining the song:

Buffalo Gals was recorded with the World’s Famous Supreme Team and Zulu singers backing them up with the words ‘she’s looking like a hobo.’ The performance by the Supreme Team may require some explaining, but suffice to say they are DJs from New York City who have developed a technique using record players like instruments, replacing the power chord of the guitar with the needle of a gramophone, moving it manually backwards and forwards across the surface of a record. We call it scratching.

Malcolm McLaren, Duck Rock liner notes

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Indie Rock Pop

beabadoobee – Care

TikTok Bedroom Pop/Indie Rock sensation beebadoobee is walking a particularly fine line, artistically. She seems to be garnering a massive following among her fellow Gen-Z-ers despite much of her music, visuals & lyrics being aimed squarely at the nostalgia for the ’90’s. She has a single called I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus.

Care is Bedroom Pop with a hard, Indie Rock edge. With it’s Stompbox abusing chorus, you could imagine it appearing on either NME or Kerrang! best of 1999 giveaway CD’s, despite that being the year before beabadoobee was even born. The lowkey Pop verses bring to mind Version 2.0 era Garbage, tracks like Push It or I Think I’m Paranoid. It’s actually a thrilling slice of Power Pop which could survive just as well on the radio as it could in an Indie/Rock themed nightclub.

The video is a mashup of various ’90’s (mainly) retrophilia tropes. Grungy ripped jumpers, CRT TV’s blurring & wobbling, emulated VHS decay, grainy film, reel to reel tape machines, Polaroids etc. Even things like the camera angles & the way the various clips are edited together screams ’90’s. As a guy approaching 40 I’m actually conflicted about the fetishisation of my own cultural upbringing as a way of selling records. As Pulp famously flashed on screen at the beginning of the Babies video, “A promo video is simply an advertisement for a song.” & this brings up another contradictory confusion: who exactly is this aimed at? Who is beabadoobee’s target audience? Is it me? The middle aged dude who was a teenager in the ’90’s, or her own generation (gen Z)? Are todays young fetishising the ’90’s in a similar way to how my generation fetishised the ’60’s? I have no answers & it’s driving me mad.

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Art Pop Pop Post Punk Song of the Day

Song of the Day (The Chain): The Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays

Day 28. So another really obvious link today. In the movie of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the lead character, Pink, is played by Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof. If you watched the video in yesterdays Song of the Day blogpost, you saw him smashing up a hotel room & terrifying a groupie.

I Don’t Like Mondays is a piano-driven Pop song with an incredibly sinister meaning. It’s about Brenda Spencer, a 16 year old girl who shot & killed 2 people & wounded 9 at the Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, on January 29th 1979. When asked why she did it, she responded “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”

The silicon chip inside her head
Gets switched to overload
And nobody’s gonna go to school today
She’s going to make them stay at home
And daddy doesn’t understand it
He always said she was as good as gold
And he can see no reason
‘Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be sure

Oh, oh, oh tell me why
I don’t like MondaysTell me why
I don’t like MondaysTell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down

The Telex machine is kept so clean
As it types to a waiting world
And mother feels so shocked
Father’s world is rocked
And their thoughts turn to their own little girl
Sweet sixteen ain’t that peachy keen
Now, it ain’t so neat to admit defeat
They can see no reasons
‘Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need oh, woah 

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down
Down, down
Shoot it all down 

All the playing’s stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys a while
And school’s out early and soon we’ll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die
And then the bullhorn crackles
And the captain tackles
With the problems and the how’s and why’s
And he can see no reasons
‘Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to die, die

Oh, oh, oh and the silicon chip inside her head
Gets switched to overload
And nobody’s gonna go to school today
She’s going to make them stay at home
And daddy doesn’t understand it
He always said she was as good as gold
And he can see no reason
‘Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be sure

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me whyI don’t like Mondays
Tell me whyI don’t like, I don’t like, I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like, I don’t like, (tell me why) I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I want to shoot, the whole day down, uh, uh, uh

Keep up to date with the Song of the Day (The Chain) Spotify playlist.

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