Pff. Madison Park isn’t even Korean. What a waste. So we get eight versions of “Another Yesterday” and a collaboration with GXR called “I Don’t Want to Know.”
“Another Yesterday” would have been huge about 10 years ago, likely gracing the speakers of Nero’s 2000, later called Club Nero. It sounds as good now as it did then, but why would anyone besides me care? Most people see their taste in music mature along with them, so rewarding my stubbornness just ain’t gonna getcha that far.
The Rob Kiraly Remix has a Beatmania feel to it. All the sounds have pinpoint beginnings and ends. I really like this one. It’s good for Robert Miles fans. You remember him. He had that blue album, as opposed to Eiffel 65, who just sucked.
The DJ Costantino Remix takes too long to build. This song is not complex enough to need such infrastructure. The Danny Houghton Remix sounds like a Debbie Gibson mashup. I swear there is a remix of “Electric Youth” that sounds like this.
And now they’re just mocking me. The Raving Donkey Remix wants me to break out the chromium picolinate and mix up some smart drinks. I had these great pants that had pockets so large I could store about 20 individually wrapped glow sticks in three different sizes. There was the weed guy, the E guy and then me. I always had your sticks and in five different colors. Do I really want to be reminded of this? So if you want to be reminded of perhaps your sordid past, I have to admit that the Raving Donkey Remix will strike a chord, or perhaps just a nerve, with you too.
DJ Costantino returns for the “I Don’t Want to Know” remix at the end. This is a better application of his strengths, because the song is much more complex.
Nothing beats a bunch of remixes for my shopping dollar, provided the original song is artfully rendered. It’s a bit hit or miss on this one.
Archive for September 2009
Madison Park “Another Yesterday ::: The Remixes”
September 13, 2009Lady Lazarus “Home Recordings EP”
September 13, 2009It’s seven tracks, right on the border between EP and full length. It’s less than 15 minutes long, though, so I guess that settles that.
“Sister Savior” and “Color Opposition Theory” fly right by. They are certainly good tracks, but they’re like leaves on a windy day. Whoosh!
“Master & Servant” is not a Depeche Mode cover. It’s certainly good, though. It reminds me of a winter day in San Francisco, when you wake up the next morning after spending the night at your friend’s apartment in the Richmond, the humming of the 31 Balboa passing through the paper-thin walls, along with the cold. Thankfully the meters are not enforced on Sundays, but you still have to drive home. (It turns out this EP was recorded in San Francisco. Coincidence, I swear. But really, it’s that sound. It’s no surprise at all.)
“Bones” has a xylophone. “My Dear Man (Unrequited)” haunts like the stray cat that doesn’t go away because you keep feeding it. Trap, neuter, release! It doesn’t work if you don’t release!
“Uxorial Demands” sounds a lot like “My Dear Man (Unrequited),” but that’s OK. She should find all of the Run for Cover Lovers, make them get back together and do a show with them. It’s the same sound but stripped. It must take her about three minutes to set up for a show. Metallica could learn a thing or two from Lady Lazarus.
The title “The End of the Dream” makes it sounds as if it should be the last track. It is! It’s good burrito-getting music. To the Mission!
Asleep in the Park “Coming Home”
September 13, 2009It’s a six-track EP with three songs and a live song that is surrounded by interludes. The band is definitely more Punky than Brewster, especially on “Coming Home.” “Precious Injury” has nothing to do with Gollum and a torn ACL. It sounds like a Metro Station song. You could really get the Generation Y chicks with this one.
“Nobody Wants” puts it all together. I really like this song a lot. The music reminds me of Blair Tefkin, although obviously a dude is singing. Despite all the keys and guitars, it’s not overwhelming.
“Interlude 1” is kind of cute with its sampling and whatnot. The live version of “Uncool” leans more to the band’s rock side than dance side. It’s amusing the two distinct sounds that this act has. “Interlude 2” sounds a lot like “Interlude 1.” Surely that’s not a coincidence.
Divisible “Less Than Lion”
September 13, 2009I’m always suspicious when all 10 tracks are between three and four minutes in length. Music is art, and when all your songs are the same duration, well, just what are your true intentions?
We get proficient singing and musicianship here. There aren’t any risks being taken here (just like with the song lengths, perhaps). It reminds me of the San Francisco 49ers’ offense.
“A Girl You Can’t Leave” has synths and hand claps. That’s how you get my attention. “Big Machines” reminds me of The Pretenders. Lead singer Shola can characterize (or is it channel) many of the big names. Leslie Rankin also comes to mind.
“Don’t Say Nothin Now” is weird because Shola actually says “nothing” when singing the title in the chorus. If you’re going to actually pronounce the whole word, then it means you can’t be cool and use the colloquial title. This also sounds like an iTunes commercial song, which ought to be a compliment.
The album ends with a nice piano ballad, “The Cutting Room.” It’s the perfect way to end an album of solid tracks, even if none stand out.
Episode 1149 is up
September 13, 2009Episode 1148 is up
September 13, 2009Episode 1147 is up
September 12, 2009Girls saying “please” to get what they want… in back to back commercials
September 12, 2009I am watching the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals play on the Fox Game of the Week. I have to. Fox does not let other baseball games that start at the same time be aired, so it’s this or college football. That’s like choosing between apples and eggplants.
And it hasn’t been all bad. I mean, Tim Hudson hit his first major league home run, right after Chris Rose and Mark Grace discussed that he had 18 home runs in college as a hitter. I love that shit.
Later on, we get a commercial break, with this Anheuser Busch responsible drinking commercial. Then, the very next spot is this Just for Men commercial.
I haven’t seen anything like that since Family Guy aired a Volkswagen commercial right after the Nazis invaded Poland.
Episode 1146 is up
September 10, 2009Joel’s Hit Show, Episode 37, September 9 2009 Playlist
September 9, 2009Madness, Bingo
The Decks, DTC
The Del Toros, Can’t Be Yours
The Nocturnes, Back Curran
Dear Nora, This Is Not a Test
Dealership, All the Kids
Liam Finn & Eliza Jane, On Your Side
Dead Can Dance, Ariadne
Dance Hall Crashers, We Owe
Florence & the Machine, Dog Days Are Over
Damone, Tonight
Tom Waits, Goin’ Out West
Cub, My Flaming Red Bobsled
Amy Millan, Finish Line
Damn Handsome and the Birthday Suits, Tainted Love
Julee Cruise, Until the End of the World
The Jezabels, Unmarked Helicopters
Cranes, Don’t Wake Me Up
The Concretes, Tjyven (The Thief)
The Woodlands, Until the Day Dims
Concrete Blonde, God Is a Bullet
Coralie Clement, Sono Io
Regina Spektor, Two Birds
Cocktail Slippers, Anything You Want
Club 8, Say a Prayer
The New Up, Dear Life
Cocteau Twins, Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops
Cock and Swan, Morning’s Window
The Shortcuts, Nothing New
COCO, Much to Learn
CocoRosie, Bloody Twins
Falcao and Monashee, Teleportation
Cibo Matto, Beef Jerky
Civet, Extra
Lightning Dust, Honest Man
The Muffs, My Awful Dream
Chop Chop, Fed
Jenny Choi, Driving
Polynya, Fields
Book of Love, Getting Faster
Blake Babies, I’m Not Your Mother
Cinnamon, A Northwest Passage
Chicklet, Threshold
Suddenly, Tammy!, Bound Together
Talbot Tagora, Solar Puppets
Neko Case, Margaret vs. Pauline
Royalchord, Too Easy
Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard, Barbarian Horde
The Rocking Horse Winner, Tomorrow
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