Quck Bits

Pet Shop Boys have been playing a version of "Viva La Vida" on their current tour. Geowayne suggests the song was chosen in solidarity with Coldplay's plagiarism claims given that PSB were accused of the same (involving one of the same parties) with "It's A Sin". Since Chris has called it one of his favorite recent songs I lean towards the idea that they are playing "Viva La Vida" because it was the inspiration for the backing track of their current single "Did You See Me Coming?". The chord structure and main rhythm of both are strikingly similar (link takes you to a not quite a mashup)even if the melody and styles are completely different. A better reason to pick up tickets is that Stuart Price, who oddly enough remixed "Viva" for Coldplay, worked on the live PSB arrangements. Also they are also playing "Two Divided By Zero"!

Much hyped UK electro acts Little Boots & La Roux are rather interesting. Sorry it took me so long to check them out but I can't be bothered to follow every one-track internet sensation. Lost in the 80's has a great post about the original Giorgio Moroder/Freddie Mercury version of "Love Kills" that Little Boots has covered for her Illuminations EP. Both versions are great.

An additional note on Hooky's Freebass preview track: He has always made odd choices when it comes to previewing material on media outlets. See evidence in this circa-1990 tv performance of NO's "The Happy One", a Technique-era track that can only be found chopped into fifteen second intervals heard during transitional segments on the Substance video collection. The band released their only number one single in the same year.

Sometimes You're Better Off Dead

Pet Shop Boys celebrated their Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the BRITs with an epic performance of their hits last night. In over the top award show fashion they appeared as giant talking heads first thanking everyone for the award as if they were unable to attend before taking the stage surrounded by surreal Very visuals, guest appearances and dancing businessmen. Importantly their medley was produced by Stuart Price who has been the most obvious choice to produce the Boys for a decade now. Hopefully this will lead to a proper collaboration on new material soon. Over a dozen songs were touched upon as we caught bits of "Love Etc" along with another taste of Yes with as they teased "All Over The World" before Brandon Flowers created a highlight dueting with Neil on "It's A Sin". The most problematic moments came from the bland Lady Gaga's involvement. I simply don't understand her appeal at all or what the Boys see in her. Catch the medley before it disappears from youtube:

Video: The Killers featuring Elton John & Neil Tennant "Joseph"

You would think that a track with so much talent involved might be a little better than this:



: I've been waiting for Stuart Price to produce the Pet Shop Boys for a decade now and this doesn't quite cut it. The vibe was apparently good in the studio so we can hope this leads to something better.

Video: The Killers "Human"

Brandon Flowers pitched "Human" to producer Stuart Price as "Johnny Cash meets the Pet Shop Boys". My endorsement will almost certainly be the death blow to The Killers domestic success but the perfect marriage of the band's (occasionally) brilliant songwriting to Stuart Price's precision tuned disco machine makes the song one of my musical highlights of the year. Love the unique take on the man/machine dynamic with the whole "human/dancer" lyric that has everyone in such a fuss although I can't help but think that Flowers could have avoided turning up on worst lyric lists by picking a less obscure quote to build a song around:




: Those who still doubt the song's brilliance should give this youtuber's piano version a listen.

Late Review: Madonna "Jump" MCD

(The following review was intended for a site that continues to have maintenance issues well over a year after this was written)

Madonna - Jump MCD



Jump (Single Edit)
Jump (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
Jump (Axwell Remix)
Jump (Junior Sanchez’s Misshapes Mix)
Jump (Extended Album Version)
History


One year after “Hung Up” stormed charts worldwide Madonna has finally released the obvious pick for the immediate follow up single from “Confessions On A Dancefloor” as the album’s fourth track to receive the honor. Lyrically focused on the importance of family and the need to grow by being in new situations “Jump” is an instantly familiar up tempo track that borrows a bass rhythm, synth strings and a few chords from Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls”. Is this just a rip off? No. There is an undeniable similarity that had been acknowledged by co-writer and producer Stuart Price even before the PSB gave the song their blessing but there is much more to “Jump” than a simple recycling of “WEG“. It has it’s own unique melodic ideas and structure that are perfectly capable of standing on their own making the familiar arrangement a tribute rather than a blueprint for Madonna’s song.

Stuart Price’s “Jump” mix, credited under his Jacques Lu Cont alias, marks the sixth song he has remixed from “Confessions” and the fatigue is showing. While effective at times with a sense of tension and menace the mix lacks the impact and vision that Price often brings to the table creating something of a mess instead of dance floor perfection. At first it appears that Axwell‘s mix is a by-the-numbers club reworking, but closer listening reveals just how remarkably assembled the mix is with subtle touches that evolve from the original. The surprise success of the single comes from dance veteran Junior Sanchez who finds a unique approach with multi-pitched vocals edits in the style of 80’s extended mixes while creating a build that only the finest club tracks achieve.

“History” is the first b-side of Madonna‘s “Confessions”-era and it is a disco friendly track that could have fit comfortably on the album. As another Stuart Price production his fingerprints are all over the track but the lyrics are the real star of the song. Apparently Madonna is “so sick and tired of fighting” that she has decided to use the platform of this b-side to present the solution to ending global conflict. If this sounds a tad grandiose and silly to you then this might be a sticking point in enjoying the song but you have to admire Madonna’s willingness to put herself out there and really give her fans something to think about.

Everybody Wants The Same Thing

How about that new Scissor Sisters album? Not all we were expecting, right? I’ve given the album a few complete listens now by way of the preview on their myspace and it’s downgraded Ta-Dah from my “must buy now” list to the “pick up the good tracks from itunes” list. The reason is because it’s just too 70’s, more specifically too Elton John for me, with way too many piano led tracks using the same plonkety plonk groove. It’s not all bad of course, a band that created something as strong as their debut album couldn’t possible derail that quickly, but the album drags in a serious way. Most of the best tracks appear on the second half with songs I can’t stand like “I Can‘t Decide“ & the entirely too long “She‘s My Man“ slowing down the album's flow from the opening. Highlights include the too nasty to be a single “Lights“, the Anna Matronic showcase “Kiss You Off”(which features the additional vocal production of Stuart Price), “Ooh” which was on their major label courting demo as “Blues” and "The Other Side" which falls a bit short of the transcendence of "It Can't Come Quickly Enough". Maybe a third of an great album is enough, but Ta-Dah has too many clunkers and that will probably push that US breakthrough album until the next one.

Check out ChartRigger and XOLondon for a good track by track reviews.

Please Don't Say

Whatever your feelings about Madonna, still ambivalent in my case, you really must admit that she has fantastic taste in collaborators. Her latest single “Sorry,” which I reviewed for synthpop.net, is a great example of her bringing together great people that I admire in the name of her music. Not only did the talented Stuart Price produce the original version, but the single has two of his remixes including a floor filling version of the awkwardly worded “Let It Will Be”. Green Velvet and Paul Oakenfold contribute as well, but the highlight is Pet Shop Boys take on the song which is absolutely epic and features additional vocals from Neil Tennant making for a mix that is the duo's most involved since they worked with Bowie. Download the original from her myspace page or stream the PSB maxi-mix with winamp.

All This Running Around

Depeche Mode just announced the tracklisting of their next single "A Pain That I'm Used To" and in the process united a number of my current obsessions:

01. A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix) [7:51]
02. A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Dub) [8:00]
03. A Pain That I’m Used To (Goldfrapp Remix) [4:39]
04. A Pain That I’m Used To (Bitstream Spansule Mix) [7:22]
05. A Pain That I’m Used To (Telex Remix) [3:28]

: I think the song is horrible choice as a single because it works within the context of the album by setting a tone but the track doesn’t really go anywhere. As a standalone track it’s doomed to flop when it comes to radio and with anyone outside the hardcore DM fans. Still, they’ve pulled together an amazing set of remixers, including the ubiquitous Stuart Price in his Jacques Lu Cont persona, who might take the song in interesting directions (although his LRD album and "Playing The Angel" feature songs called "Damaged People" so that might have been a better song to take on) and apparently following the precedent set by “Precious” are not including an album version or radio edit of the song on a standard format of the single. It might find some takers.

Down With Price

Stuart Price is everywhere these days. Seriously. Earlier this week I was at the dentist office and found his picture in People Magazine (actually working the equipment at Madonna's recent dj gig).

Here's a link to Popjustice's energetic interview with Price, which also breaks the news that a new LRD album is in the works:

I do, yes. I mean, who can not love the Pet Shop Boys? That's the thing. They were the first ever pop act I ever listened to. All of Chris Lowe's parts… When I very first sat there with 'My First Keyboard' I was trying to work out how they did it, how they made those rhythms, how they got those sounds. I love the 'Disco' album with all the 12" mixes and I suppose it's not surprising fifteen years later that when it all pops up on the record I think 'oh, this sounds like the Pet Shop Boys.' I'm not going to try and disguise that, they're a big influence.

Making Me Sweat Now

This week's top 10 singles in the UK:

1. Gorillaz – ‘Dare’
2. Rihanna – ‘Pon De Replay’
3. Daniel Powter – ‘Bad Day’
4. Jessica Simpson – ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’
5. Oasis – ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’
6. Simon Webbe – ‘Lay Your Hands’
7. Black Eyed Peas – ‘Don’t Lie’
8. David Gray – ‘The One I Love’
9. Les Rythmes Digitales – ‘Jacques Your Body (Make ME Sweat)’
10. James Blunt – ‘You’re Beautiful’

: What is LRD’s “Jacques Your Body” doing as a top 10 single in 2005? The song was on Stuart Price’s pre-millennial “Darkdancer” album and a little research reveals that the song is being re-released because it has been featured in a “dancing robot tv ad” and has a new stunt-filled video. By my count this is the third time the song has been released as a single, most recently in 1999 when the song was “featured in the Sunny Delight new basketball ad.” Regardless I have a feeling this is the song’s highest charting which shows if you put quality product out there often enough you can sell some records. Not too bad for a song I started playing in my college radio days when it was first on the Wall Of Sound label's "Bustin Loose" compilation. Back in 1998.

If Madonna Calls

The new Madonna album is expected out in a few months and at least the lead single is produced by one of my favorites:

’Hung Up’ will be the first track to be lifted from the forthcoming LP ’Confessions On A Dancefloor’, which is expected this autumn.

According to madonna.com, the song was produced by Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont, who is currently in Los Angeles mixing the album with the singer.

: It's about time Madonna let Price loose in the studio since he has worked with her on recent tours and co-wrote a song that, under the direction of rival(?) producer Mirwais, was mysteriously featured in an unplugged version on "American Life." It could be that Madge may just now realizing what a talent he is since he has been just about everywhere in the past year producing New Order and Juliet as he continues working his magic remixing Gwen Stefani and Fischerspooner with versions that are superior to the originals. Have I sold out my "alternative/electro/underground" side with the hope that it will turn out better than NO's "Jetstream"?