Lately I've had the worst of luck with my local record store. I keep going there to buy Veronica Maggio's latest album on vinyl. It is constantly sold out. Finally I caved in and got something different. Something very different. Swinging 60s different.
Kitch, no? If it's good enough for Gorillaz to sample, it's good enough for me.
This is hands down the funniest vinyl I own. To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap), a novelty rap-tune by the great Mel Brooks, released in the early 80s. Mel Brooks owe his career to the Nazi-spoofing The Producers so it only made sense that he'd return to the subject someday. And what a return!
From the back-up vocalists breathlessly singing "Sieg Heil" in the intro, the incredibly cheesy disco-rap sounds, the fact that the lyrics actually are a pretty decent rundown of Hitlers rise to power and the entire WW2 to the simple fact that this is Mel Brooks. Rapping. In character. As Hitler.
Madness.
Here's a taste of the lyrics for you! "Like humpty dumpty offa that wall all the little countries they began to fall Holland Belgium Denmark Poland -- the troops were rockin' and the tanks were rollin' We were swingin' along with a song in our hearts.
And "Deutschland uber alles" was making the charts"
The video is "classic" as well. Female dancers straight out of Cabaret and leather-clad male dancers straight out of the nearest gay club. All with Third Reich regalia. And Mel Brooks breakdancing. It will blow your mind. And possible scar you for the rest of your life, but that is the sacrifice we have to make.
This was actually a sizeable hit. #12 in both the US and UK, #3 in Australia and a #2 in Sweden! Insanity. But a good reason to debut my "from the vault" tag. For those posts when I feel like digging up something old from my collection.
No retro like good 80s retro! And Stephen Falken is good 80s retro. Imagine if John Carpenter had made the soundtrack to an 80s action/comedy movie. Analogue sounds, no annoying singer trying to send a message. Just perfect analogue synthness. Unfortunately the cover looks more like something out of William Gibson's cybernetic dreams, rather than the Miami Vice nu-disco it is.
Unfortunately The Shadow of the Wind, his best song, isn't on youtube, but Visions is also splendid.
This is the kind of stuff I could listen to forever.
Oh Nick Cave. Your sense of humour is one of the more appealing things with you. But you also got a keen sense of design. Take a look at this Record Store Day exclusive 12" of Evil, from the latest Grinderman album. The cover looks soo good. Matte black and then reflective big red EVIL. Nothing else on the front, just some tiny label-info on the back. The vinyl kept in another matte black cover sleeve.
The vinyl itself? Red. But not just red. SPARKLY red. Is this Nick Cave taking a subtle dig at Twilight? Very possible. Photos can't capture the full sparkliness of it, but trust me when I say it sparkles like Bowie in the morning sun.
And the the final touch is the catalogue number. 12MUTE666. Because what other number could it be? None, I tell you. None. And a bonus CD with all the tracks is included as well. Good consumer service, goood consumer service.
The video is cool too. Very very simple. There is a vampire squid (yes, that is a real species) and a yellow bird. That is all needed for Evil.
Jag hade en gång en blog, men det var för länge sen, så länge sen...
After a long period of silence, I'm back with some posting material! Starting with this lovely artwork to Dum Dum Girl's latest, great, EP. I love this design, simple but artful. The tunes are good too, showing a more fuller sound compared to the first album, and ending it all with a There Is A Light That Never Goes Out Cover that actually is superb! They breathe new life into one of the most overplayed covers simply by doing it straight-up, without losing the energy and atmosphere of the original. And remember, everything sounds better with a touch of distortion.
No, I won't talk about the latest, superb, PJ Harvey album here. Instead I want to show off some yummy treats found in Singapore. Yes, this will be very pop-heavy. Here's what I came home with after a recent visit.
From the top left we have 4Minute's first album Diamond with a bonus DVD. Containing the poppiest song ever about losing ones virginity. (Yes. K-pop is weird. I thought I'd made that clear before.)
The original Sugababes first and only album, on glorious vinyl. Unfortunately somewhat abused in the travel but still worth having.
Below 4Minute is BoA's Hurricane Venus and to the right of Sugababes is GD&TOP's selftitled debut.
And in the bottom row there's a Japanese Girls' Generation single, the oversized Secret single, Kara's Jumping in Japanese and finally a break from all of that K-pop with the Tommy February6 compilation. Tommy February6 is Tomoko Kawase, front-woman for the Japanese band The Brilliant Green as well as two different solo-projects. There is the free spirited, Halloween-inspired emoish rock of Tommy Heavenly6 and the subtly decadent electropop of Tommy February6. I already own the CD+DVD compilation from Heavenly6 but now the collection is complete!
Narsha's debut EP is a prime example of k-pop packaging going above and beyond the norm. Narsha is a member of Brown Eyed Girls, one of the biggest girlbands not associated to the three main Korean talent agencies (think "major labels"). She went solo last summer with a 7 track EP which came in an extravagant 7" sized package.
The bottom third is actually a slip-over that can be taken off in order to access the disc and booklet. Once opened up and the disc removed, this is what meets the eye. One golden booklet for lyrics/credits and one additional booklet for the photographic concepts.
Narsha plays around with gothic and religious themes in her artwork. One spread has her dressed up as a stylish nun, another as an enchantress who literally has feathers for hair (with smoke coming out her eyes), one as an innocent sultry redhead. The album-cover goes for an Alice In Wonderland vibe. She is a tempting witch or a white clad madonna. And one is just a feral birdlike creature. I wish I had a scanner so I could properly share more of the artwork, it really captures a gothic feel and sense of mystery, bewitchment and magic.
The feathers are a theme that goes through the entire design, in the video to lead track Bbi-Ri Bop-A Narsha even sprouts wings. Versions of other characters from the booklet also show up. Bbi-Ri Bop-A is my favourite k-pop single of last year, it's such a simple track but filled with atmosphere and small tweaks to keep it interesting. And of course the hook that sounds like someone casting a spell on you. It's an uplifting tale that lets us know that all our memories, all our sorrows can be erased. We just need to give Narsha our soul first... a cheap price to pay, if you ask me. If there wasn't a goth r'n'b-pop subgenre before, there is now!
