Monday , March 1, 2010
Heavy Rotation: Arab Strap, Hey Willpower, The Moon + More
Arab Strap, "Here We Go"
A few weeks ago I dug up Philophobia by Arab Strap, a record I haven't listened to since it came out in 1998. That's like almost eleven years ago, which is kind of crazy. It's a bleak, stark, quasi-folk/quasi-electronic affair, full of these really downbeat beats, super-pretty guitar flourishes and some of the most downcast, depressing lyrics ever about sex, drugs and being young and hopeless in Britain. Sounds great to me! Seriously, though, it's rare to get a record that feels like living inside a short story collection. As relentlessly miserablist as Arab Strap were, they were utterly committed to examining the vagaries of alcohol and mindless sex with an unflinching existentialism and some incredibly well-crafted songs. "Here We Go" is kind of the epitome of the record, which I'm now convinced is some sort of lost, underappreciated masterpiece. (Kat)
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, "A Daisy Chain for Satan"
I danced to this when I was 15 and it was awesome. I danced to it again 15 years later and it's still awesome. Campy disco songs about Satan and drugs = always awesome. (Kat)
Ida Maria, "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked"
Lately I keep having this problem where I'm too lazy to get up and shut off the stereo after the a.m. news, so then I end up listening to all of Morning Becomes Eclectic like some yupster jerkface jagweed loser. But sometimes it pays off, like when they play new PJ Harvey or this semi-annoying yet ultimately exhilarating track by cutie-pie Ida Maria, which I kind of can't stop playing over and over right now. Also, the title nicely sums up the way I've felt about certain people at certain points in life, so that's pretty neat. (Liz)
Hey Willpower, "Chewing Gum"
"Chewing Gum" by Annie (who's adorable and Norwegian like Ida Maria, OMG) is one of my theme songs for 2009, along with "Surfin' U.S.A." by the Beach Boys, "Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen and/or the Ramones, "Surfin' Cow" by the Dead Milkmen, "Surfin' Crow" by the Arousers, and "Surfin' UFO" by the Boneheads. (I'm actually kidding about the last three, as I've never heard them.) I'd forgotten all about Hey Willpower's cover-remix-mashup thing till I dug up a buncha old mix CDs last week but in some ways it's even funner than the original, especially when Will (as in the dude from Imperial Teen, yay!) swaps out the real lyrics for his own goofy come-ons. It's bubblicious. (Liz)
Blur, "Far Out"
The theme of my contributions to this week's Heavy Rotation is "The Lunar Cycle." The Lunar Cycle is very important, and we should all make the effort to be cognizant of its existence, because it explains a lot, if not everything. Clearly, Alex "The Sexiest Man On Earth, 1995" James of Blur understands this. Nearly every lyric of this song is the name of a moon, which is an amazing lyrical concept, since the names of moons are awesome: Barnard's Star, Antares, Aldebaran, Altair, Wolf 359, etc. I feel weird today; Betelgeuse must be in retrograde. There is simply no other explanation. (LJ)
The Moon, "Faces"
This track has nothing to do with the Lunar Cycle beyond the band's name. The Moon are one of the best Paul McCartney rip-off bands in existence; they were based out of Los Angeles (I think), but try real hard to sound like they're from London, even going so far as to pronounce the word "pleasure" as "play-zhure" in their song "Pleasure," which is weird, because that's not how British people say it. This song reminds me of the time I walked around the Lower East Side after having recently ingested a psychedelic drug, and everybody's face looked disfigured in a creepy way, and I couldn't understand if it was real or not (it wasn't). Later, I became convinced that my left foot was going to have to be amputated, and then I ate a chocolate-chip scone. It was delicious, and my foot healed up A-OK. (LJ)
Tags: adorable Norwegians, Arab Strap, Blur, Hey Willpower, Imperial Teen, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Paul McCartney, s-e-x, Satan, the moon, yupster jerkface jagweed losers
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