Wow, someone got my cd, in just about a week from me sending it out. That's quite impressive. Anyway, here's the tracklisting, plus added ramblings from myself.
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[*]Children's TV Theme #1 - Frenchbloke & Son
Just a bit of silly music to kick off the cd. This used to be an old record by The Stranglers, which was originally in waltz time. But here it has been chopped into 4/4 and had a glitter beat added. Yay!
[*]Tainted Love - Gloria Jones
This is the original version of the song that was made famous by Soft Cell, sung by Marc Bolan's girlfriend. I had this tune stuck in my head for three months last autumn, and now possess about 15 different cover versions of it. As always, though, the original is probably the best.
[*]Hell is Around the Corner - Tricky
Tricky is a very scary man, and this is off his first and best album, Maxinquaye. His albums after this got more and more unlistenable, until he discovered that he was suffering from a yeast allergy that made him constantly angry.
[*]Happy House - Ginger Ale
This is a cover of an old Siouxie and the Banshees song. I've no idea who Ginger Ale are, but I keep hearing this in clubs and it sort of lodged itself into my head. A fun disco tune.
[*]Eisbär - Grauzone
This was apparently a big indie hit in Germany about twenty years ago. Lots of cool noises, and a guy going on about how he wants to be a polar bear because they never cry. I suppose their tears would freeze if they did.
[*]Pop - N*Sync
A statement of intent from J.Timberlake and co. A lot of people are very snobbish about pop music and are in total denial that there is good pop out there. I hate seeing music ghettoised. Anyway, this song is great, it has interesting production, a big guitar breakdown in the middle and human beatboxing at the end.
[*]Hi Scores - Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada aren't from Canada, and they aren't boards. They're two hermit guys from the Scottish countryside who make kind of ambienty soundscape type things. They can sometimes be a bit dull, but this one is good, as is most of the first album.
[*]I'm so Green - Can
More Krautrock, this time from Can who were a bit mad. Excellent drumming and a bassline that got completely ripped off by the Stone Roses.
[*]Across the Universe - Fiona Apple
I'm going to commit heresy here and say I prefer this to the Beatles version. I like F.Apple's very bored sounding singing voice, and it suits this song perfectly. Plus it's all orchestral, which is always good.
[*]Personal Jesus - Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash does Depeche mode. Come to think of it, this CD is full of cover versions. But they're all good. And they all bring something different to the original.
[*]Jus Jus - Mr Scruff ft. Roots Manuva
This was a bit of a cheat, since I wanted to put tracks by both these guys on, but didn't have enough room. Mr Scruff is a fish-obsessed jazz-samplist type musician, and here he gets Roots to talk his usual shite for him. I have no idea what he's saying half the time, something about somebody stealing his cakes.
[*]Love Will Tear us Apart - Joy Division
It's the 23rd anniversary of Ian Curtis' suicide this weekend. Everyone goes on about what a great vocalist he was, but I think he had a bit of a silly voice and find their albums quite hard going sometimes because of that. But they still wrote amazing songs, so I will forgive him. But the rest of the band aren't getting off that lightly- I still remember the John Barne's Eng-er-lund rap from 1990.
[*]Playgirl - Ladytron
Ladytron are one of my new favourite bands. Brilliant 80s-esque synth-pop and they all wear uniforms and have great hair. I love this song, but I'm thinking I should maybe have put "Paco!" on here instead because it's about department stores. So go download it as well.
[*]A Better Tomorrow - Automator ft. Kool Keith
A nice meaty slab of hip-hop mentalness, sounding like the theme to a Godzilla film or something. Kool Keith pretend to be his own brother for some reason.
[*]96 Tears - ? Mark and the Mysterians
A bit of a northern soul classic here. There's also a spanish version kicking about. I like the organ noises on this.
[*]Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne
I loathe Saint Etienne with a passion. Unspeakably shit MOR dross for people who buy their music in garages. But this song always got to me a bit, the singer sounds completely different to her normal dull nasal monotone. I believe it's another cover, which would explain a lot. Seriously, don't look for anything else by this band because they are terrible.
[*]Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches
The Avalanches are one of the best live bands I have ever seen. Although they make sample-based music, it's obvious when they go on tour they really want to do the whole rock star thing. Some guy in the crowd told me they were the best band he had ever seen, even better than Nirvana. But he was obviously on pills, so I don't quite trust his opinion. You'd never have caught Kurt making a record out of old speaking books, though.
[*]I'm Straight - Modern Lovers
Hippy Jonnie's always stoned, so how come he gets all the girls?
[*]Whole Lotta Love - Goldbug
Moog-tastic retread of the Led Zep classic, sung by a shrill-voiced songstrel and mixed with the tune off the Pearl & Dean cinema adverts. Plus it's got a gong, so it must be good. I think this record was done by a journalist writing an article about becoming a pop star.
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