A blog and nothing but since 2003. Some tech, lots of music, and if rambling was money, drinks are on me.
Fine Tune Friday can drown our town with voices
A search this week brought the discovery what I had suspected: “Fine Tune Friday” is not the most original name in the world. Several other people had been using it as well. I won’t abandon it just yet, but I need to come with a backup name, so that when I get dragged into court, I can explode in sobs about “just trying to do what’s best for me and my family” and that if the greedy corporate suits who are suing me really want to take that away from me and the mouths of my 18 babies, then fine, I’ll change the name to ________. But I have to think of something really bad. To get the public on my side.
Anyway…
M83, “Kim & Jessie”
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I can’t figure out if I like this song in spite of its nearly over-the-top late-80’s retro vibe or because of it. The squawking keyboard parts in the chorus are both exactly what I remember from the pop music of my high school years as well as noisier and slightly grittier than I remember any of it being. I guess it’s like a lot of retro music in that, no matter how much it aspires to recreate a sound from the past, it can’t help but pick up trends and theories from the years in between. For instance, a cursory recollection finds that the synths and drum machines of the 80’s stayed pretty current, and it would be hard to find the lush textures of the later part of that decade butting up against little 808 textures like they do in the verses of this song.
This song hasn’t left my head since Hans introduced me to it last week. Thanks, Hans.
Library additions this week
It may seem as though giving this level of detail is unnecessary, but there’s really no point of coming around to this site if you’re not interested in nauseating levels of detail. So I’m just going to give you everything that’s been added to my library this past week. Like the subheading told you.
- Frightened Rabbit, Midnight Organ Fight. A indiepop Scottish band called Frightened Rabbit? I might be legally obligated to add it.
- Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours. Another highly retro synth pop album. Nice stuff. Recommended by Pitchfork.
- The Replacements, Tim. Added in after Christian played “Bastards of Young” at Heavywax last week.
- Guillemots, Red. A disappointment so far.
- Various, Mojo Presents…The New Dictionary of Blues and Soul. A new soul comp from Mojo makes me think I’ve already found the new soul worth having.
- M83, Saturdays = Youth. Nice, though only one other song (“Graveyard Girl”) has stood out so far.
- Steely Dan, Then and Now: The Best of Steely Dan. Because it was about time for “Reeling In The Years” to join my collection.
Feel free–encouraged, even–to share your musical weeks in the comments. Because you love free stuff.
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April 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
BULLSHIT
April 18th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
the sun is going to burn out in 8 billion years anyways
April 18th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
What LC means by “BULLSHIT” is that he sent me an email going on and on about M83 and how great he was. I didn’t listen to the songs he sent to me, which, I’ll admit, is BULLSHIT. But then I heard the song on Hans’s blog. And that’s what got me into it. And now he’s mad at me because I didn’t acknowledge him. Which I’m doing now. All caught up?
He’s pissed. He has his back to me and his headphones in and is announcing to everyone that he’s mad at me.
It’s only going to get worse before it gets better.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I dunno about the music. But as far as the album cover design goes: I liked it better the first time, when it was called “Different Class”.
Maybe they should’ve opted for something more original. Like perhaps a little kid doin’ somethin’ nutty!
April 18th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Not coming up with something brilliant as a name for your Friday feature here is bugging THE. CRAP. out of me. But that’s my problem.
Nice work on the Steely Dan comp! I didn’t even know about that one until now. The good thing is, there are of course equally good songs on each regular album, and yet, man, those first six tracks are beyond reproach.
I’m pretty sure that as of 2006 or so, Steely Dan and Wilco have officially signed a secret musical reciprocal “gateway drug” agreement.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Woah…M83 didn’t sound this 80’s before, did they? They sound like Real Life. (You know…as in “Send Me An Angel”?)
April 19th, 2008 at 12:25 am
What LC doesn’t realize is that The Singularity is going to happen way before the sun burns itself out, so who cares about the fucking sun. I may have made this point before, but never articulated it as well, so let me say it again: Who. Cares. About. The. Fucking. SUN!
As far as M83 is concerned, you can thank me, but the thanks are really due to my sister. But then she has me to thank for Sigur Ros, so I guess it all comes out in the wash.
Xtian: There is a little bit of Real Life happening here, but I think there may be even more Human League and OMD. I’m really not sure, since all of that stuff was WAY before my time, but I’ve seen movies like The Breakfast Club and Wierd Science and Sixteen Candles, so I do have at least some frame of reference. Also, Anthony Michael Hall was in all three of those movies, but where is he now? Let that be a lesson to you.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Killing me that I can’t come up with something better, but how about “Five Song Friday.” Of course, this would mean you would have to post five songs, instead of just one or two. That’s a lot more work. Or, if you could do it a day earlier, “Three Song Thursday” might be more manageable.