Pairs

#1: Dreamy electro

Ignoring the slightly creepy video clip, this is a rather charming song.




although they can't compete with RÜFÜS (although I'm partial to umlauts).



#2: Absurdly catchy synth Choruses

This song by Twinsy (self-described Aussie 'D list supergroup') has been all over triple j like a rash recently, but if you prefer the convenience (& lack of mundane chatter) of online streaming, or just happen to not spend as much time as I do in the car travelling to debating venues on Friday evenings with nothing but jjj for sustenance, please avail yourself of this song.

Particularly enjoying the contrast between the zesty choral arrangement and the synth chorus. The synth part of which reminds me of...




 this utterly danceable track from Architecture in Helsinki.




#3: Errr... female voices?

My attempts to create some tenuous links between the songs breaks down shamefully here...

Firstly Gossling (she of 'Boys like You' fame with 360). I suppose you either love or hate her nasal, prepubescent voice, but this single has grown on me (and it's also available for free from the triple j website, which helps).



And... The original song was pretty incredible unto itself, but this cover is a perfectly acceptable trance-y  update (wouldn't recommend staring at the video pic for a long time though).



c.l.

Yin : bleak times ahead.

A few weeks ago when I was at a friend's house, I heard the song 'Alors on danse' (So we just dance) by Stromae, courtesy of someone having downloaded it onto their phone whilst in Europe (elsewise it would've remained an 'unknown unknown' for me)

It was a pretty massive hit in that part of the world last year, reaching number one in 18 European countries plus Turkey (I bet Turkey were wishing that common music tastes were high on the criteria for joining the European Union). And that standard-bearer for our modern age, Kanye West, has done a remix for the English-speaking world, who apparently can't handle the song in its original form.

The song itself is orright (the vuvuzela sounding trumpet is a bit irritating after a while) and the split screen video clip below, similarly so. The main redeeming feature for me at least, were (was?) the lyrics.




Although I have been informed by my francophone insider, The Free(wo)man, that the lyrics are held in general contempt by young people in France, I actually quite like the flow of the verses - they have a morose, almost poetic quality, and the ideas while a bit trite are still nicely expressed (or maybe I have low expectations; yea I'm looking at you, Katy 'Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?' Perry):

(English translation: I just copied this off lyrics translation and can't vouch for their accuracy):


-
So we just dance
So we just dance
So we just dance

When we say study, it means work,
When we say work, it means money,
When we say money, it means spending
When we say credit, it means debt,
When we say debt, it means bailiff,
We agree to being in deep shit
When we say love, it means kids,
When we say forever, it means divorce.

When we say family, we say grief, because misfortune never comes alone.
When we say crisis, we talk about the wold, famine and then third world.
When we say tiredness, we talk about waking up still deaf from sleepless night
So we just go out to forget all our problems.

So we just dance… (X9)

So you say that it’s over because the only thing worse would be death.
When you finally think you’ll make it, there’s more and more!
Ecstasy means a problem, problems or just music.
It grabs you by the guts, it takes hold of your head and then you pray for it to end.
But your body is no heaven so you block your ears even more.
And then you yell even louder and it goes on…

So we just sing
Lalalalalala, Lalalalalala,
So we just sing
Lalalalalala, Lalalalalala,

So we just sing
So we just sing
And then only when it’s over, then we dance.

So we just dance (x7)

And well, there’s still more (x5)

-

opinions?
And to compound the dismal, existential despair that the lyrics invoke, have a lark at Allen Ginsberg's reading of 'Howl' - his seminal beat generation poem which begins with the famous line 'I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked'


Apologies for possibly subduing the pleasant mood of a languid, sunny Friday afternoon (the following post shall hopefully restore it)

c.l.

pensioners' music

I think you need to be in a particular mood to enjoy this song.

Eightstreet Show & Tell

At the beginning of the year, a good friend of mine and fellow eightst-er, Hurley Who, visited Communistland. She was kind enough to bring back a quintessential pressie (a Mao notebook; like the Little Red Book but Green), plus less iconic but equally beloved by me, fare.

Matchboxes. 5 in total and quite an assorted bunch as the pictures reveal. Yes, that is Che (who is surely turning in his grave after having his image appropriated for use in yet another capitalist enterprise!) mixing it with Katharine Hepburn/vintage film poster, the Madonna and Child/unknown french revolutionary-esque artwork, a Chinese madame and Mohammed Ali.

You know you've made it when your mug is on a matchbox in China?




They're highlights in my otherwise pretty inspid matchbox "collection", alongside The Androgenous Viking (its probably a male, given the beard, but the body looks disturbingly feminine). All up I only have 14, but I figure I've got a while.

Anyways, I wouldn't want to get too carried away like that famous fictional matchbox collector, Brideshead (as if his name alone wasn't reason to pity him), from "Brideshead's Revisited" who ended up marrying the widow of one of the another matchbox collector. Keen.



The next few Show and Tell items are a few of my favourite Grand Narrative songs.

That is, they render the minutiae of life on a epic scale; the individual's story set against the forces of Nature, Politics, Love, History and Other Such Capitalised Themes. In the process, they totally suck sentimental romantics like myself in.


Firstly, Bloodbuzz Ohio. Take the hypnotisingly deep instrument that is Matt Beringer's voice, add some sparkly drumming and sweeping imagery, then dare yourself not to get hooked. You will lose, but simultaneously win because it is a wonderful song. Then console yourself with this free (and legal! i think/hope) download.




Secondly, Mace Spray. It's pretty hard to describe how deliciously Gothic this song is, so just listen to it and appreciate Hayley Mary's haunting vocals and marvel at the fact that this is a band that hasn't even released their first album. And theyre Australian :) You can download it for free on iTunes, under triple J's "new music" podcast.




Finalement, Trains to Brazil. The absolute epitome of the Grand Narrative song and catchy as anything to boot.

"And to those of you who moan your lives through one day to the next / well, let them take you next / can't you live and be thankful you're here? / see it could be you tomorrow or next year"





c.l.

moosic

I like books. And I like songs. Gosh Sally, you know me too well. We should get together soon. Over coffee. Talk about cool stuff like books and music and writing songs about books and music.

I reckon a conversation between us would go down somewhat like this:

Me: Hey Sally, what's the haps? I really like your Book Song.

Sally: Thanks Disco. It's very kind of you to say that.

Me: I bet you get that all the time though.

Sally: Sorry?

Me: You know. The whole fangirl gushing over your music. OMG lyk Salleee I luff youu soooo much!!!

Sally: Umm, not really. You see I'm just mildly cherished Australian indie singer-songwriter. Never mind the fact that I did all this work with New Buffalo and mainstream people didn't really notice. Never mind the fact that I wrote that 1234 song for Feist, that bitch who stole it off me. God I hate Feist.

Me: Yeah. Jesus, Feist, have a little compassion. Although she did make that kickass 15 minute long video for The Water which has Cillian Murphy in it. Mmm Cillian Murphy is so hot in such a creepy way...

Sally: ...whut.

Ok so it seems after all I can't find a link to Book Song by Sally Seltmann which I really recommend, so here's Dream About Changing instead. The whole album Heart That's Pounding is worthy of recommendation actually.

[disco.read]

This blog is not dead.

You have my word, yes the word of a supposedly anonymous stranger (or familiar friend) that writes under a pseudonym; I mean, why would you question me? Do you know who I am?

I actually really don't care if you do know me/not (if I don't know who you are, perhaps just a smidge), but you have to admit my point is correct - the fact that I am posting this right now is proving the fact that this blog is not dead.

So I leave you with a beautiful track, courtesy of a great collaboration between Feist & Grizzly Bear - Service Bell.

~Louis Tiffon

classics, maybe

I'll Kill Her - Soko




Middle of the Hill - Josh Pyke




The Time Is Now (Bambino Casino Mix) - Moloko




Rock 'N Roll - The Sounds




Gone Going - Jack Johnson




Taylor - Jack Johnson



For Jack Johnson, I am willing to overlook Ben Stiller's distressing presence.





- no name -

loop stations

One of my all time favourites:





Definitely did not expect this on 'Good News Week':




Mr. Percival's stuff too, no decent videos unfortunately.




And now to a genre entirely foreign to this blog:





There's a lot more shameful rap from where that came from, so I'll keep the rest to myself. Except for this one, it just never gets old:







- no name -

Gender bender.

Was in the car last night, it was about 10pm, I was listening to a random am radio station and "Something" by The Beatles came on. And after a while it crossfaded into Shirley Bassey's cover of that exact song. Other than a rather exciting novelty, hearing the songs back to back jumped out at me for another reason - that is, Shirley Bassey's gender switching i.e. singing: "something in the way he moves", rather than the way she moves.

Now it ain't like this is uncommon. It happens all the time and the reasons to do this are really quite clear and quite understandable. "I'm a straight female who'd much rather sing about a man, thank you." And if applicable: "I'm Shirley Bassey and I can do whatever the hell I want."

But the reason it jumps out at me is because I've been listening to quite a bit of new musical theatre on the interweb lately ... and a lot of songs, love songs that is, change hands quite frequently from male singer to female singer and back again. Difference is, with each transaction, the lyrics don't change according to and regardless of gender.

WHA!? You say, a song originally sung by a man to a woman is being sung by a woman to a woman!?

Er, yes...?

I put it down to two things: 1) it's theatre, you're acting, we get it. Pop audiences assume songs are autobiographical. And even when a singer hasn't written the song - he or she chose it because it means something to him or her. Whatever that means. Also, in theatre circles, the lyricist > the singer. "Sing my words or go home... (betch!)".

...which quite nicely leads to 2) the strength of the gay community within "Broadway World". No matter who you're singing to even if you're professing your love to a member of both two sexes within the one night in song, no one is going to bat an eyelid. And if we're being serious, when a man sings about another man, there's a big chance he chose to do it for the same reasons Shirley Bassey wanted to sing about the way he moves.

Titus gets an A+++ for acting on this one. The gender non-switching thing doesn’t happen until 1:07 and then again at about 2:15. The references are scarce, but you register them... and then you start to imagine with this added detail what heck kind of a relationship this guy’s got himself into.

Same goes for this next one. It only happens ONCE at 2:40, he sings “Smelling boy in that empty twin bed”. This video’s phenomenal, may I add. If you’re a fan of Imogen Heap, look out for the influences – especially at 2:50. Watch it. Watch it NOW.

All the above examples are of songs which were originally written for a heterosexual context and have been re-arranged/transposed to be sung by the opposite gender – just randomly. Or maybe not so randomly. Homosexual songs will make some sort of impression on the countless billions who’ve been living on girl-boy, boy-girl songs for generations. Which I’m guessing is everyone. It’s just another way of saying to everyone that gay is normal and I can sing whatever the hell I like without having to change the lyrics.

I said before that switching gender pronouns wasn’t uncommon, but the same can be said for not switching gender pronouns. Think folk songs for girls sung by girls (see Cara Dillon’s “Black is the Colour”) or choral pieces where the entire SATB choir has to sing to one gender.

Ok, so I don’t have a big message about anything to do with music, theatre, society or culture. I just hope that one day when I sing “Lisa” in public – (which I will, you watch!) – I don’t get weird looks from old timers from the Shirley Bassey days. I think I’ll leave you now with a song which wasn’t transplanted from one sex to the other but was actually written as a duet between two homosexual male characters. Let’s hope you don’t die of squeeeee.

---Pâte Brisée

VideoPhonnne

Rome - Phoenix, Lanny Merge remix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)

(Below is the very French-looking band stylishly trying to look athletic. Or maybe they're just chasing a pink bunny mounted on the back of a ute. So much for polysemy.)




Personally, I prefer the original album version of Rome but then again, this video seems to be the epitome of 'hip' so why not?



Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend (Contra)

This video broke the drought of my not-impressed-by-this-music-video spell.
That is to say, this video is impressive. And it has Jake Gyllenhaal in short shorts. What's not to like?




[disco.read]

covers / acoustic

Something good on Nova for once:




Just for you, d.read:










- no name -

music drought

I present the raw talent that is Bjork:




And the Foals' newfound, subtle sound:



Anyone else reminded of 'Into the Wild'?

And on a nostalgic note, am really feeling Louis Tiffon's absence here - bring back the haute couture posts, s'il te plait!




- no name -

this too shall pass

I almost never post on Eighth Street, but I have finally found something amazing to share with you all. So you know it’s going to be awesome.

Like, fantastic.

Are you ready for it?

Really?

Are you sure?

OK Go! (See what I did there?)



If that’s not the coolest thing you’ve ever seen, then, um... you must have seen some pretty cool stuff.

- whitebread :)

mish mash hish hash

Everybody's bored and buggered off to somewhere more exciting. So I thought this was rather appropriate.

"Today I discovered that if I hum at a specific frequency, my right index finger will spasm. MLIA"

"Tonight, my family and I watched Coraline. Since the movie finished, we have been watching the dvd logo bounce around the screen, waiting for it to hit a corner dead on, cheering when it comes close. It hasn't yet, and we've been watching it for over an hour now. MLIA"

"Today, my family told me I was adopted. My whole family is white. I'm black. I think I figured it out. MLIA"

Also want to give props to Louis Tiffon and her fantabulous blog http://akalalouie.tumblr.com/, a blog worthy of being followed religiously.

It was actually through Louis' blog that I found this little gem: http://www.caroline-marechal.fr/agent-illustrateurs/illustrateurs/gouyette (my favourite is Antoinette Fleur).

And of course where would we be without a jolly little song and dance?

Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire (Funeral)

There's a lot of hype and interest around Arcade Fire now, especially amongst the Where The Wild Things Are fans, and rightly so. It's impossible to hate the raw anthemic guitars, sweet modulations into major keys at just the right moment and a sensitive husky Kings-Of-Leon-esque yowling over the top. Top stuff for those who hate too many lyrics but can't stand Sigur Ros.

Or some polarising stripped-back indie soul-searching? Try Aurora by Lapush. There's the safe monotonic guitar chords to make you feel like you're on a night train, a hearty dose of nice-guy mewling and the appropriate accompanying effects.

Give it a go.

Last and probably least, I'm going to chuck in this celebrity-fest released for Bandaid, just because we like Christmas with a feeble commerical sort of conscience.

[disco.read]

she's got me dancing

Spurred on by the fact that there is currently an unacceptable ratio of 19 fashion posts to 18 music posts.

Calvin Harris - The Rain




[d.read]

aural respite

In a break from the horrors of the previous few posts, here are some refreshing tunes to detox and purge our systems of the bilious pus encrusted upon our eyeballs.

Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition



Temper Trap - Fader



Playing at the BDO!

And anonymous, I am waiting for a suitable opportunity to unmask your nasty stink-ridden identity, just you wait!

[d.read]

taking the piss

Funneh. Down with playbacks!



{disco.read}

addict yourself

Transform your day!

Ceu - Malemolencia


Lily Allen - F You - [I wanted to embed the actual video which is pretty cool but not allowed :( ]


Keane - Another One Bites the Dizzee (mashup of Queen and Dizzie Rascal)


[d.read]

A dress for today

It's the first day of spring today (well over here in Australia it is) & as a bonus, I found this Christopher Kane structured piece today.

You can also legally download Sarah Blasko's 'No Turning Back' & Woolfy's 'Oh Missy' off Sportsgirl.

Get some style inspiration off Chictopia.

A dose of beautiful illustration from Igor + Andre

Some space-styling with Design*Sponge

Look at these interesting chairs in daily tonic.

That's it for now

~Louis Tiffon

retro hip

I have recently hit upon a massive genre previously untargeted for by my venom. It has been coined as shindie music, a contraction for the rather ostensible shit indie music. The stuff is everywhere unfortunately, I will post some examples when I find them. Sometimes, rarely, but it does happen, sometimes artists get signed for a reason. Because they are good. And sometimes some artists do not get signed for precisely the opposite. Because they are awful.

But in the meantime, we will listen to good music as decreed by yours truly, and we may pretend that this is Paris 1920s.

St Vincent - The Strangers


or not.

Radiohead - Nude


And just for fun.
Franz Ferdinand covering Womanizer, Britney Spears


[d.read]