SONG OF THE DAY No.5 ‘Who’s That Girl’ by Robyn

I know I shouldn’t, I know she sounds pikey as hell and I take some relief from the fact that being from Sweden she actually probably isn’t very pikey, in fact I don’t even know if there are any pikeys in Sweden, surely, in fact, there can be no such class divide in a society that prides itself on its socialist and liberal values.

Phew, I feel better now that I’ve convinced myself that this song isn’t pikey, because I really love it (in fact I love most of the album, but I always seem to end up liking the first track the most). Apparently this has been out in Sweden for ages and ages and was top of the album charts there. I didn’t discover it until two weeks ago when by chance I read some American indie website review of it. The best thing about this song is the way it sounds really 80s without actually trying to, unlike most of the electro/synthpop wannabes that plague labels such as IDG and the like (apparently she was helped with this one by a Swedish electro duo called The Knife, who I now want to hear too). And she actually writes songs, not just sounds. (Plus check out the Kate Bush-a-like sound on ‘Be Mine’). And you can hear a little bit of it here.

A PLAYLIST FROM THE PAST

Well from a few weeks back anyway.
Highlights would have to be Emerson Lake and Palmer, although I only played half of it, it was quite clearly the best half, Wendy O Williams, cause it’s a funny song title ‘I love Sex… (oh yeah and er rock’n’roll or something)’ and Iron Maiden ‘Running Free’ because it’s pretty sing along for a Maiden track. Unfortunately I didn’t get to play The Misfits and Lene Lovich…

SONG(S!) OF THE DAY No.4 Little Girl / Crawling by Miss T & The Japanese Tourists

How me and my girlfriend laughed as we listened to Andrew Eldritch’s benchmark album Floodland one quiet Sunday afternoon. Pompous, pretentious, melodramatic etc, yeah well of course it damn well is, this is The Sisters of Mercy, not Oasis or something.

Along with Black Metal, ‘Goth’ is one of those genres that I have been listening to a little more regularly than I probably should have, primarily in the shape of Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees, with a hint of Type O Negative, and I was glad to see a new band flying the Goth flag, albeit half-cocked. I picked up on Miss T & the Japanese Tourists on a message board and was extra happy to find downloadable tracks on their website. And what cool songs they are, one uptempo one and one slowy. It would be too obvious to compare them with S&tB, plus Miss T (the singer) posits Stevie Nicks as a big influence (“the surreal spine chilling voice of stevie nicks....beyond amazing!”) and although I wouldn’t say it’s the most obvious influence, if you listen carefully you can hear it, honest. I suppose it would be fair to say that they do a frikking good job of making old influences sound new, which is what all the best music does, or has done I reckon since the 50s, what better compliment I can give.

By the way check out the weird Siouxsie and the Banshees ‘cardboard box’ shop on Borough High Street.

THE MORAL

Treat the activity of album listening like sensible drinking - pace yourself, don’t mix your genres, make sure you eat something, don’t do it in the afternoon or on your own, erm.. Yeah, that’s enough really.