This Track Is Fire!

You know, in another place, another time, disco never died and Italo ruled the music charts, but here on this Earth, that didn't happen, though Nuovo Testamento are doing their damnest to create that reality here. What is Italo? You see, when disco died here in the US in the 70s it continued on in Europe, taking hold in Italy and evolving, where it became known as Italo. Music never stops, it takes everything that exists around it and incorporates it into itself, constantly growing, shifting, changing. HI-NRG (think 80s Dead or Alive) exists because disco crawled, Italo walked, and Hi-NRG ran with it. But Nuovo Testamento saw how awesome Italo was and decided to bring it back, and for that, I thank them. For me, a fan of all of the above, this is wonderfully delicious. If synths and dancing make you happy, but you want something a little more like disco than Depeche Mode, New Order, or the Pet Shop Boys, well, this, my friend, is for you. I love it! Enjoy! New Earth by NUOVO TESTAM...

  Buckle up, this is a long one... Today is my birthday so it would be no surprise to anyone if I posted yet another Depeche Mode song, but that's not what I am doing. I said the topic this week was all about the songs who informed who I am, and this one was integral to that entire process. I had never heard of Siouxsie and the Banshees before encountering them late one night on MTV, most likely while watching 120 Minutes  some evening, probably in the summer. From the very first sound of "Peek-A-Book" with its reversed instrumental track. The effect is jarring, but not uncomfortably so; to my ears it was intriguing. I mean, who the fuck does that? Yeah, Missy Elliott did years later, but other than the Beatles, how many artists have tried to build an entire (alternative) pop song built around a track played in reverse? My mind was blown and I wanted to hear it again and again. This was well before the internet, before YouTube, and certainly before music streaming, so unl...

Closing out the "Welcome Back to Old School" theme this week is another classic, but also sadly, a one-hit wonder, in the form of When In Rome, a band that most-assuredly released a full album of other music of which I have to admit that I am completely ignorant. And yet, they gave this highly-singable and wonderful synthpop song called "The Promise." Whatever happened to When In Rome? No idea, but any time this song comes on I have to turn it up a bit louder because I am compelled to sing along with it, but I am a tone-deaf man with no ability to carry a tune. The increase in volume is for your benefit, not mine, because honestly, no one wants to hear me sing. But this song? No notes, this song is perfect . It's Friday and I am most likely in Florida right now, hopefully near a pool, already enjoying my weekend. Throw this on, kick back, and start your weekend as well. Enjoy!

Honestly, I can't believe that this log is just over a year old and I have not yet posted The Go-Go's. I admit, their songbook goes pretty deep and by now I should probably should have included another track of theirs by now, but I haven't, and, well, I am on vacation this week, so this song fits , but also, it's a banger! I actually didn't know if I would have the time to post any songs this week, but I found a few minutes and the serendipty was just too good. I hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend as well! Enjoy!

As far as I can remember we had cable. We weren't necessarily rich, but my dad worked at GM as a supervisor from the 70s-90s, and my pops loved TV. I am not sure when we go cable exactly, but I do remember that HBO wouldn't come on until sometime in the evening, show a few movies, and then go off the air. Eventually they started showing movies 24/7, so me being not unlike my father I also enjoyed TV. Being a kid in the 80s with HBO mean that I watched just about anything that came on, including obscure movies like Electric Dreams . Is it a great movie? Not particularly, but I was a kid with no real taste yet, so watching what I later learned to be a "modern" take on Cyrando de Bergerac featuring a computer that was linked in ways that are commonplace now (hello, smart speakers and smart homes!) wooing a young woman for an awkward nerd was just another movie that I watched several times (or more likely had on while I was playing with Legos or action figures). I don...

Far too often bands get their time in the spotlight and after a good run they seem to either lose their creative spark, or tastes shift and their audience just kind of dries up. I am happy to report that this has not  been the case with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, aka OMD. Since they returned as a proper group with The History Of Modern  in 2010 they have shown that they are reinvigorated, contining to make catchy synthpop tunes (like this one) whilst also experimenting with more creative pieces. While the halcycon days for groups like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, OMD, and their peers may have been the 80s/90s, albums like Bauhaus Staircase  show that these are not nostalgia acts, but rather bands that are still putting out refreshing work that continues to push against the boundaries of popular music. Enjoy!

Last year in November I highlighted another song by this group off of this album because at the time it was hard for me to choose between "Autogenic" and "Totem and Taboo." Here, on the second anniversary of the release of Chrysanthemum ,   I wanted to highlight another fantasic track by this band that deserves far more attention. Hope you have a great week!  Enjoy! Chrysanthemum (Deluxe Edition) by Black Nail Cabaret

INXS, one of my favorite bands from the 80s/90s, and honestly, the first band I was obsessed with before I discovered Depeche Mode, has finally been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame . Their return to the news of course has me reflecting on their music and some of my favorite tracks of theirs. Sure, there are the big hits like "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," "Suicide Blond," "Never Tear Us Apart," and many, many others, but that's not the one that I chose today. It's not a particularly important memory, but whenever I hear "Don't Change" I think back to my teen years, specifically a day during a sunny day at my friend Dan's house, where I believe he and another friend of ours, Marre, were swinging in a hammock and one/both of them asked me to play this song again. A whole group of my friends were there, just hanging out as teens do on a warm, pleasant day, and it's just a few seconds of a memory tha...

An oldie but a goodie. I don’t think that I appreciated this song back when it first came out because I was just too young. I don't think that I really heard it properly until I was in my teens/20s. It came up in my music feed fairly recently so I took the time to really listen to it and now I get it, I really do.

Is this track new? No, it's actually quite old. Is this track fire? 100% Last night I had the opportunity to go to a viewing of The Cure The Show of a Lost World , which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I wanted to be clear that I am a fan of The Cure with a lowercase "f." I do notn know the deep cuts that hardcore fans might know, in fact, I don't even know Songs of a Lost World especially well .  That said, I saw/heard every song by The Cure that I wanted to witness last night. Every time I thought that the performance was about to wrap up I would think to myself "well, they aren't going to play 'X' song," and then a moment later they would play that very song. It would be easy for me this morning to post "Boys Don't Cry" or "Just Like Heaven," but "The Walk" is the song that put the biggest smile on my face. Maybe to get more blog hits it would make more sense for me to post something from their most recent album in...

This album has been out for over a year, and honestly, I don't think it has received the attention, nor the acclaim, that I think it should have received. I love the old school (now) synthpop bands like OMD, PSB, Depeche Mode, etc., etc., but these bands of the current wave are putting out quality music that, in my opinion, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the classic synth bands. No band exemplifies this better than Black Nail Cabaret. Each of their albums has shown growth, none more so than Chrysanthemum , their most recent release. That's not to say that these newer synthpop bands are a glorified tribute to what came before. Rather, it's clear that BNC grew up listening to those bands I mentioned and were inspired to create something in that fashion, but their own way through their own influences. Honestly, I had a hard time picking between this track and "Totem and Taboo" because they're just that good. ENJOY! Chrysanthemum (Deluxe Edition) by Blac...

Welcome to the week of Halloween, and really, there isn't much better than this track when it comes to the reason for the season. Happy Monday, enjoy!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me how good the 40th anniversary remaster of Listen Like Theives  was. Serendipitously, the collector's edition went on sale a week or so later, so I scooped it up. Just as he said, this mix sounds fuller and brighter than the original. There's nothing wrong with how it was mixed back in 1985, but this new mix is fantastic. If you're an INXS fan you owe it to yourself to have a listen, and if you can find it for a good price, grab the LP/3CD collection. I'm very happy with my purchase.