Well, that's it. Done. We think. Kylie tweeted "Recording in NYC has been amazing...". All with Jake Shears at the helm? Right hand man? Conduit? Muse? It'll all become clear soon enough, but suffice to say, the line up of collaborators is exciting: Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Nerina Pallot (!). Can't wait.
"Holidays are coming, holidays are coming..." Along with Pet Shop Boys who release their Christmas EP on the 14th December, Boy George gets in one day earlier with his version of White Christmas, spelled B-Rude stylee as Xmas. It's a reggae-lite version produced by Kinky Roland (glad to see they're friends again), and one for the Christmas playlist I'll be listening to whilst stuffing the turkey. Mind you, I was expecting to see his self-penned new song You Ruined My Christmas (a phrase his mum screamed at a drunken aunt once) as part of the package. Where is it? I wanna hear it!
But the major song on this EP is a new one called Lousy Substitute. It's a Bowie meets Lady Gaga epic. Go listen here (and buy there too!)
How vare remiss of me. The lovely Fenech-Soler put out new single Lies two weeks ago and here am I just getting round to buying it. Go here NOW! It's an FS power pop special. And out of the two remixes, Alex Metric's deluxe version wins hands down.
There's a second track on the digital bundle (can we just call them a 'dundle') called LA Love which has been a MySpace fave of mine since I first stumbled across ver lads. Have a listen below...
LA Love by Fenech-Soler
The Guardian's Paul Lester, in the spirit of nu-rave, christened his 401st New Band of the Day, Delphic, 'nu-Madchester'. Well, they come from Manchester and have a vaguely indie-dance feel... s'pose. But let's just say, along with this year's other sound for 2010 Hurts, they're one in a LONG line of Manchester acts who manage to sound totally accomplished before even being unleashed properly. Mind you. With both of these acts, it's been a long time brewing (that Paul Lester piece, check it, was from 2008!).
Like every 'new' band, pop's pantheon is thrown into front story. New Order + The Editors + The Klaxons = Delphic. Actually, that's quite a good equation. Can I throw in Prefab Sprout, The Orb and Captain to round it up? But that could easily detract from what is great album. Produced by the consistently brilliant Ewan Pearson, Acolyte is out on the 11th of next month. Try it for size over here at 7digital.
There seems to be a big album push for 2010 with Polydor muscle after the two indie singles This Momentary and Counterpoint set the pace this year. Radio 1's Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley are the feeders, gawd bless 'em. Whiley was fizzing at the gash today over new single Doubt, also out in January. I really hope these four lads don't 'do a White Lies' and disappear before they've begun...
1st single, Counterpoint
2nd single, This Momentary
Watch their live version of Doubt below on Later with Jools Holland...
Delphic site here, and a brief Wiki...
Totally unrelated, content-wise, but both of them nuggets of pure delight, here are two things that have made me *scream* this week.
Rhoda: Season 1 on DVD, whoop! whoop!
"New York, this is your last chance!" It's taken 35 (gulp) years for this belly laugh sitcom to make the boxset generation. I got into this series in the 80s when the BBC repeated every show late at night. Just hearing the theme tune gives me goosebumps and the humour hasn't dated one bit. The delivery may not be as quick, but the lines are still as funny as fuck. Nancy Walker, who plays Rhoda's mom, was the biggest star at the time of this first series, despite Valerie Harper coming straight off the back of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Hence, she gets all THE funniest one-liners. A very kind somebody called retroteevee2 has uploaded ALL of Season 1 onto YouTube. Go have a look here... NOW! And can I just say one thing... Joe. Swoon.
Cruel Intentions by Simian Mobile Disco featuring Beth Ditto
Oooh. This is an MDMA creepfest of a video but a beautiful minimal electro song. In the UK you'll recognise the two lead actresses: Sharon Maughan from the cheesy Nescafe Gold Blend ads and
Soul Inside (UK Number 16 September 1983)
In 1983 Marc Almond, being Marc Almond, had announced he was retiring, aged 27. 27 years later he's still going strong and better than ever, but just after the letter to every mag and newspaper had sealed Soft Cell's doom they released the first single from their last (brilliant) album This Last Night in Sodom called Soul Inside.
They were already massive in the UK at the time, one top ten hit after another. And aged 14, I got it. "The wind in my hair and the black in my eyes, I was holding back tears as I reeled with surprise. There was no one to phone. I just chewed at the time. I was waving goodbye to control of my mind". While my brother and someone else were getting their teenage years explained to them by Morrissey, my education came via Marc Almond. Obviously, the paranoid drug references were lost on me, but it fitted my teenage angst very nicely. What a bloody release. For a 'fuck you' teenage song jumping around your MFI bedroom, there's no better. The cymbal at the end is very symbolic of an, erm, teenage explosion.
Check out this great remix from The Readers Wifes on the Heat: The Remixes album...
What got me into... previously
DEPECHE MODE
And so, after signing to a label at last, Hurts are slowly beginning their assault. Or not. As the NME rightly pointed out, they're so elusive it's like a game of cat and mouse with this band. The first single out on Biff Stannard's new Sony imprint Major Label, (or RCA if this blog is anything to go by) is the gorgeous Wonderful Life and NYC dance maestro Arthur Baker lends his legend to Adam and Theo with a mighty thunderous remix. Attaching his name to another Manchester band like this reminds me of the brilliant Shellshock he did with New Order years ago. Mind you, the radio edit version is a bit lumbering and trunkated. Below is the full 6.44 version which makes a lot more sense. And you can NEVER get enough sax solos. Bring 'em back!
Wonderful Life (Arthur Baker Remix) by Hurts
It's a jittery , clever little bugger! Here's Rowsheen's new single Orally Fixated. I likes. "Don't take my lollipop!"
