Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Sandra


Sure, most Sandra fans are Eastern European men with flimsy moustaches and tight Polo shirts, but you've got to admit there is something fascinating about her voice. Buried beneath Micheal Cretu's synth noodlings, when her pixie-like warblings do manage to rise above the drum pad din the effect is, well, magical. Yeah, it's Eurotrash pop. But I like it.

Sandra Cretu (formerly Lauer)is best known stateside for her work with husband, Cretu, on Enigma. She got her start in the German disco band Arabesque before striking out on her own to become a popstar. She had a string of hits in Europe -- "Everlasting Love" and "Heaven Can Wait" -- but it's her very Cretu-ish "Secret Land" that really caught on with the wavers in the late '80s. These videos were directed by Bulle Bernd. (Like that means anything to you.)

You've also heard Sandra on tracks by Peter Schilling & Hubert Kah, among others.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The Scientific Americans


Band from Boston, released some really obscure vinyl in the late '70s and early '80s.Wiel is the one to thank for getting me hooked on their stuff. I would say they sound like early Devo done dub or maybe Cars with a Shriekback inflection but since the Scientific Americans never liked being compared to "pop" bands I won't. The mini-posters (ad art) here came with a 9" (or 10") flexi disc EP "Beyond Fiscal Distress" Wiel got (he posted all this in November on his blog)from the band. Very cool DIY electro punk stuff. You want to hear it, let me know.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Black Light Trap


Shriekback's "Black Light Trap" ( lead track on Big Night Music) this is from the concert video Jungle of the Senses. Barry Andrews described this once as "Gormenghast with a disco ball." As with anything Barry produces, the lyrics are key:

An eliptical Movement
With the attitude of a snake
Then make our incisions
Stand on one leg and deviate
All American action
All lemonade high
Old and cold and going gold

A fanatical schism
As impeccable as a swan
Psychadelic exactions
That lay me down or lead me on
In the ballet of Black-Light
And the agony of the fly
We divide and then collide...

IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- We make all our mistakes
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- Go in and out like tiny snakes
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- We fool around but thats ok
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP... In the black-light-trap...

Pornographic implosion
Sticky animals on the air
An implaccable suction
That pulls us in and keeps us there
Cryogenic excitement: Dionysian repartee
Creamed and steamed and quite obscene

All chemical all funny-man all belly-flop all dilly dally
All muddy moan all billy bolly all wobble-y all shilly shally
All chemical all funny-man all belly-flop all dilly dally
All muddy moan all billy bolly all wobble-y all shilly shally

IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- We make all our mistakes
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- Go in and out like tiny snakes
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP- We fool around but thats ok
IN THE BLACK-LIGHT-TRAP... (Watch him go now)... In the black-light-trap...

All chemical all funny-man all belly-flop all dilly dally
All muddy moan all billy bolly all wobble-y all shilly shally
All chemical all funny-man all belly-flop all dilly dally
All muddy moan all billy bolly all wobble-y all shilly shally

IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP

IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP
IN THE BLACK LIGHT TRAP

Thanks to Cleartrails/Phil Hetherington for the transcription.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Glowing in the Dark: Minimal Synth MP3 Series #3 - Moderne



The ablum is indeed everything the cover suggests and more. Here is the track "Mercenaire Solitaire." From the 1981 Arabella records LP, L'espionne aimait la musique. It's cold. It's synth. It's French. What else could you want?

Freakwave



I'll admit that one of my only true vices is the fact that I like to watch Kevin Costner's mega-flop Waterworld. Seriously, any time it's on. Actually every time it's on. I know, I know.

It's actually not the film itself that's compelling (though it's competently done) -- it’s the idea of the film. The concept is what my pre-pubescent dreams were made of. Post-apocalyptic action a la Mad Max but in the water? Man, I was so there in 1985. In fact, that's practically the only game I played in the pool - the lone survivor in a water wasteland of mutants and my brother… You get the picture.



So it comes as no surprise that I'd love Brendan McCarthy's Freakwave. This is essentially the same story as Waterworld just made ten years earlier. What? Yeah, Waterworld effectively ripped off this comic book series that has its roots in a film proposal circulated in the mid-80s. Alas, it joins the slagheap of other great ideas - Jodorowsky's Dune, the post-apocalyptic Easy Rider 2- that never materialized. At least we have a few comic panels and production art pieces.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Vasilis Lolos


How is Vasilis not in the Pantheon? I mean he's as close to a Greek God as we've got these days. (Not counting my pal Thomas "The Hairy Brows" Mavroudis.) Not only is his work on Pirates of Coney Island slam dancing it's way into my heart but the man continues to spin off strange effulvia like the upcoming Last Call. And he posts his favorite Robert Smith photos on his site! The man's a genius.