It has been an absolute
age since I got my arse into gear and did a trawl through some of the
newer music that has caught my ear. I am just so unenamoured of the World of Pop these days - I tend to spend more time wallowing in the nostalgia-fest that is BBC Radio 2 (on weekends in particular), or else classical stations such as Radio 3 or Classic FM are my preferred aural backdrop.
That aside, let us clear the decks once again for a mini-showcase of recent choons by some eternal favourites, some welcome surprises, a few classy numbers, and inevitably some cheese...
Two great musical icons joined forces at the turn of the year, the legendary
Giorgio Moroder (one of the more surprising comebacks of recent years) and Our Princess of Pop Kylie Minogue. The result is rather fab:
Speaking of comebacks, around the Festering Season (yes, it
has been that long since my last round-up) a particularly welcome gift was the return of a long-lost fave band of mine,
The Beautiful South! Well, not entirely. Only two of them, in fact - lead singers
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott. However, their song
Real Hope (an excoriating critique of "reality TV" talent contest/karaoke shows such as
X-Factor,
The Voice et al) is a true return to glory, and I love it:
Nothing else in music (or indeed
music news) is ever quite as
big as Madonna releasing/promoting a new album. Of course, the whole universe knows by now that the pop-tastic
Living For Love is the first single from Queen Madge's
Rebel Heart. However, there is a huge cavalcade of remixes of the track out there to choose from, as well. I've waded through them to the best of my ability (so you don't have to) and, in my opinion, the utterly marvellous Offer Nissim has probably done the best job:
Our houseboys (and one-time Madge collaborators) from
Kazaky are (also) completely unstoppable. Despite being apparently now reduced to a threesome - oo-er - they seem to release a new single and video every few months! Their latest brilliant production is the (as ever) sex-fantastic
What You Gonna Do:
Taking a break from dance numbers, here's a sweet one - a good song with a powerful message about tolerance, it's
Kadie Elder and the faboo
First Time He Kissed a Boy:
I have said it before, and I will say it again...
Marc Almond is a God. He has a brand new album out this week,
The Velvet Trail, and from it here is the sublime (song and video)
Life In My Own Way. I adore this:
One I missed completely from last year - and many thanks again to the lovely Henry at
Barbarella's Galaxy for digging it out recently - is the mysterious
Kovacs and
My Love. Her voice is a thing of beauty...
As ever, we go from the sublime to the ridiculous. With a song for everyone who's sick of mobile phones, here's a combo of fierce drag queens from the "Crucible of Civilisation" Italy and the "Land of Tackiness" that is Spain,
RIIING! by
Lacroix &
La Prohibida. Muy bien!
With it's hilarious "home-made" video and analogue synths, the new one from
Eurotix takes me right back to the end of the 70s/early 80s. This kind of thing was
de rigeur on TV back then. It's rather an excellent effort for all that - it's
When You Are In My Dreams:
Quite possibly the only video any of us have seen lately that features naked dancing "Princess Leias" over a sumptuous ethereal soundtrack, here's
Tropea by
Kaleida. It is gorgeous:
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Oh, and by the way:
"I'm the kinda person you don't wanna fuck with!" Not necessarily my words - they are those of the charmingly-named
Death Team [theirs is a genuinely inspired piss-take of a website, by the way!]) and their choon
Fucking Bitches in the Hood. I think I will be singing this in my head whenever I head to the office from now on...
And finally, in case that was a "fuck" too far, here - by complete contrast - is a jolly little
divertissement that most definitely is not "new" (it was recorded almost four years ago), but new to me - and "right up our street"... I take constant delight at discovering musical oddities from the four corners of the earth, but this one really made me sit up and take notice. Dave Brubeck as you never heard him before - it's the
Sachal Jazz Ensemble and their sitar-heavy version of
Take Five!
As always, dear reader, enjoy - and let me know what you think.