July 29, 2002

 
Some Recent Downloads

Ugly Cassanova "Things I Don't Remember" - I'm very impressed with this song, and with Isaac Brock's progress as a songwriter. The melody and harmonies are really lovely, and balanced nicely with the surreal lyrics which feel twisted and a bit perverted rather than just tossed off and silly. There's a lot of tension in this song - the lyrics and the way that Brock sings them have a very frustrated, annoyed tone; and the choppy one-note violin part and the break-down with all of the shrill voices swirling around make me think of a particularly painful migraine headache. Very well done, very evocative, and highly recommended.

Ladytron "True Mathematics" - Is that a sample of "Warm Leatherette", or are they playing something remarkably close to it? Wearing their influences on their sleeves certainly works to Ladytron's benefit, I think. I still think the best thing about this band is their vocals, which always sound deliberately alien and/or Eurotrash exotic. I've not heard the rest of the songs from the record this song is from, but this is a good sign. The 604 album is pretty good, but the only songs that really stuck with me are "He Took Her To A Movie", "Commodore Rock", and "Playgirl", so I don't have high hopes of this new record being very consistent.

Acid Mothers Temple "You're Still Now Near Me Everytime" - My first impression of this song was that it was like a more passionate, sloppier My Bloody Valentine, but now I'm starting to think the song sounds like Bjork singing with a krautrock band. There's something very pop about the singer's voice, it feels sort of mis-matched with the music, but that's what makes the song so special, I think. It's a very beautiful song, and I'm glad that it's sung in Japanese because I sort of prefer not having words get in the way of my experience with this song.

Scritti Politti "Messthetics" - I was very surprised when I heard this song, which I downloaded on a whim. All of the Scritti Politti songs which I've heard to date had been like a pretentious grad-school New Kids On The Block. This song sounds like a bunch of professional players playing a very deliberately messy song, with every bit fully arranged, the players in full control. Green Gartside sings a pretty pop melody over the top with lyrics about just what his band is doing - pretending to be sloppy and free as an aesthetic choice. After looking up the song on Google, I found this article, which convinces me that I really ought to spend some more time investigating this band, and that I should pull out and reevaluate my copy of Cupid & Psyche 85.