Monthly Archive

Whether it’s the shear chutzpah of selecting Elvis as your stage name, stunts like busking at a convention of record company bigwigs to get noticed and signed in the U.S., or releasing your next album on vinyl and as a digital download only, the bespectacled Declan Patrick MacManus, better known as Elvis Costello, has shown he has what it takes to succeed and survive at this wicked game.

aDawgg:

   Elvis Costello - Watching The Detectives

Perhaps it’s fitting, after listening to Elvis Costello again and again the past couple of weeks, I ended up settling on his first serious hit, one I knew would end up on the short-list anyway. “Watching The Detectives” was a standalone single released in the U.K. in late-1977, before later making it onto releases of My Aim Is True. The rhythms and chorus mask a dark and menacing tale of murder. This single marked the start of a wide-ranging career now in its fourth decade and matched by very few.

Bean:

   Elvis Costello - Oliver’s Army

Oliver’s Army” is the kind of hit that indie bands are still trying – unsuccessfully, for the most part – to write. A genuine indie (or post-punk or new wave or whatever you want to call it) / pop crossover is rare. For it to also say something real about the state of the world – and not just some generic Peace To The World drivel – is almost unheard of. And to have it still be loved by people of all tastes, ages, shapes, and sizes over 30 years later? Almost a miracle.

Tamboosh:

   Elvis Costello - Lipstick Vogue

A musical chameleon and soldier against cynicism, who nevertheless never resorts to sentimentality, Elvis Costello understands the essence of every single genre he has covered and executes them perfectly. Trying to explain what is lovely about a song is hard to express when limited by words. While listening to his songs, I jotted down my thoughts. I’ve used phrases like ‘pop perfection’, ‘beautifully country’, and ‘heart-breaking gospel’, but “Lipstick Vogue” simply got a heart. I love this song and whatever grand description of the other songs, nothing can win it from a heart. It’s fast, tragic, passionate, and unmistakably Costellian.

If you’re a fan, I’m sorry. But, Barry White is one of the poster boys for Poptastic Day. However, as we have said in the past poptastic doesn’t equate to crap. In fact, quite often, it’s just the opposite. Yes, it may, just as often, be corny or cheesy as hell. That just makes it better.

“You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” may be best known to Generation X as the Biscuit’s theme in Ally McBeal. When I hear it I see that goofball pumping himself up with confidence in the unisex bathroom mirror. Which is why the song is so effective - only a poptastic song would do. And it did. It’s forever burned into my brain because of those scenes.

What is poptastic to one is frequently a hit to many others. “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” was on Can’t Get Enough (1974), an album that featured a #1 (”Can’t Get Enough”), a #2 (the subject of today’s Poptastic Day) and was selected as #281 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. ALL TIME.

Now, that is The Power of the Poptastic.

   Barry White - You’re The First, The Last, My Everything

Postscript - The photo accompanying this post was specifically selected because I couldn’t help wondering who the Special Agent was in the background. Does he not look out of place? I imagine him wondering “How did I end up here?” Perhaps what he’s really thinking is … “That Barry White is one cool cat. I wish I could be more like him.”

There would be no charts and therefore no Zany Charts if Billboard hadn’t made the glorious and innovative decision to document America’s best selling records in a handy weekly list simply named the Best Selling Retail Records 68 years ago. Now Billboard hosts about a gajillion charts selected by theme and genre, it boggles the mind. The Forties were a simpler time, there was only one chart that gave the readers the most popular records in one glimpse. Every self-respecting music magazine all over the world has followed suit since then, and has given us the opportunity to poke fun, scrutinize, and analyze these lists of songs. But it all started with this first chart from the 27th of July 1940.

1 Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra & The Pied Pipers - I’ll Never Smile Again
2 Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly - The Breeze And I
3 Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle - Imagination
4 Kay Kyser with Sully Mason/Trio - Playmates
5 Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle - Fools Rush In
6 Charlie Barnet with Mary Ann McCall - Where Was I?
7 Glenn Miller - Pennsylvania 6-5000
8 Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra - Imagination
9 Bing Crosby - Sierra Sue
10 Mitchell Ayres with Mary Ann Mercer - Make-Believe Island

It’s a regular Big Band-a-palooza! With the exception of Bing Crosby these songs are all credited to the, then extremely popular, conductors and their orchestras. Now the vocalists take center stage, but back then the Big Band conductor was the one that got top billing. This is why different versions of “Imagination” can occur in the same chart. I wonder if there was any rivalry between those that favored the Tommy Dorsey version and the Glenn Miller fans. I imagine Big Band Offs, where the two groups would stand across from each other with their record players and play the different songs while heckling the other side. The sweet and dreamy “I’ll Never Smile Again”, was a huge hit. It topped the charts for 12 whole weeks, but it was only one of forty songs the twenty-five year old Frank Sinatra recorded with Tommy Dorsey. My favorite song here is “Pennsylvania 6-5000″, I LOVE everything about it. It’s to Big Band what The Champs’ “Tequila” is to Rock ‘n Roll, but with the added bonus of a ringing phone.

Yeah, so what. I start all of posts with excuses about why my post might (probably) sucks eggs. This week I have yet another excuse. A good one. For me at least. I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro from Apple and, hot damn, it’s sweet! So, I phaffed about for the past four or five days setting it up. What this meant is I had to export and import all my RSS feeds and all the entries was zapped to Kingdom Come.

Anywho, onto this edition of my disjointed and disconnected collection of news-ish tidbits … a.k.a. some stuff that comes from the Interweb into your feeder reader for people that don’t know the news too good.

I may have nuked my backlogged feeds, but you couldn’t have missed the blow-up over what seems to now be known as the ‘Barack Obama Race Speech’ or ‘A More Perfect Union’ or Obama really taking on the elephant in the corner of his campaign or Obama taking on the even bigger elephant crushing the United States with his big ass. Predictably, the Right - in this instance, the White Right, most notably - is all up in tizzy.

(Beware: This video is the FULL speech, running nearly 38 minutes.)

From the inspiring to the painful. Submitted for your approval, two tales about the pathetic and their attempts to mean something to someone somewhere:

Tale #1: The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records over the licensing of their tracks to Pepsi and Amazon.com. Their reasons? Negatively impacting the credibility they worked ever so hard for years to build with their fans. … They still have fans?

Tale #2: NME, the infamous rag that loves a band or artist one week and hates them the next, is making a Robbie Williams-style attempt to become relevant in the U.S. Good luck. Prediction: NME will fail miserably and then write off the U.S. as musically useless.

This month’s 100best of … selection, Elvis Costello, is opting to release his upcoming album (Momofuku) via digital download and vinyl only. Interesting. Somewhere a record exec just pooped herself a bit.

Undoubtedly, the number and variety of reality crap (*COUGH*), I mean, shows is just out of hand and definitely, somehow, at the heart of the decline of Western Civilization. Even so … Oh. My. God. Let this be shown in the U.K.! The concept is so cringable I can’t not look. I’m so gonna be thuggin to this.

Weezer, Justice, The Klaxons, Mars Volta, DJ Shadow. No, that’s not the lineup for an indie/underground festival. That’s a selection of the artists on the Gran Turismo 5 soundtrack, scheduled for release for the PS3 in April.

On March 16, tamboosh clued you into the existence of hip hop at SXSW with some cuts from The Cool Kids. Well, here’s another I bumped into on my travels along the musical backroads of this so-called Information Superhighway (shout out to The Rap Up) …

   The Carps (ft The Cool Kids) - Heaven’s Gates & Hell’s Flames
   (Warning: 12.28 MondoBites!)

Want to know more about The Carps? Check out their CarpSpace.

That’s it. I’m done. Out.

For perhaps the first time ever, here’s a remix I actually like. To tell you the truth, I usually don’t even download remixes, because I always end up wishing they’d left the original song alone. But here’s the Shoes Mix of the Mystery Jets’ current single, “Young Love”, which I’ve already expressed my love of. This remix adds its own element but doesn’t take away from the dreamy Spring-like sound of the original. Nice.

The Mystery Jets’ Twenty One is out now at record shops near you.

   Mystery Jets - Young Love (Shoes Mix)

If you’re like me, you picked up the latest Kills’ release, Midnight Boom the day it came out. And if you’re like me, you love it. Definitely a better album than No Wow (although it had some great songs on it, No Wow didn’t quite live up to what I’d hoped for from their second full-length effort), Midnight Boom strips their minimalist sound down even further than before and adds an industrial element that suits them way better than I could’ve imagined.

But as much as I love the new album, I still think The Kills’ first album will always be their best. I always say that if I were to compile a list of the greatest albums of all time - albums taken as a whole, single piece of art - The Kills’ Keep On Your Mean Side would be one of the first things I’d put on there. Keep On Your Mean Side is just about perfect when considered as a whole - there’s not a single song that feels like it should’ve been left off, there’s no boring middle dip, every single track has enough power to make your heart pound. Sure, The Kills don’t often veer away from their sound and explore new realms the way that some artists do. But they do explore their own sound fully, exposing the guts of what they themselves set out to do. And guts are a big part of why I call this album a Classic. There’s no better album to listen to on Monday morning when you’re pissed off at the world, letting it scream at you as you silently curse everyone in sight. It’ll help you get through a task you loathe or work through heartbreak. It directly connects to your anger, sadness, pain, fear, worries - whichever apply to you at any given moment. This is music that you hear in your heart, not your head. It sounds good on headphones, in a car, from a crappy stereo or the best money can buy - but it should always be loud enough to make you want to sing, shout, and scream along.

   The Kills - Cat Claw
   The Kills - Wait

I can feel myself entering a hip hop phase again, having drifted away for a few months. In my regular pre-post scramble, the Geto Boys popped into my head. When it comes to the Geto Boys many (if not most) hip hop heads will immediately think of their only truly big time single, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”, off We Can’t Be Stopped (1991).

This isn’t the best rap track ever. In fact, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” is very much of its time. But, damn, if it ain’t catchy. Listen to it once and it’ll be looping through your head incessantly, especially if your memory is seeded with it already.

   Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks On Me

As a special bonus, here is the irrepressible Isaac Hayes’ “Hung Up On My Baby” from the 1974 Tough Guys soundtrack. Listen to it for 10-15 seconds and it’s obvious why I’ve thrown this up as well.

   Isaac Hayes - Hung Up On My Baby

I normally go for loud, energetic bands, but it’d been a very hectic day and by the end of it I was so relieved to hear $100’s delicate folk songs. This Canadian band doesn’t yell for attention, instead the singer’s voice floats along like she hasn’t a care in the world, all the while accompanied by some impressive finger pickin’ and slide guitar action. This results in songs that aren’t for the ultra cool and cynical, but are just sincere and lovely. They’ve had a serious set back when guitarist Ian Russell was diagnosed with Leukemia in August last year, but I was glad to learn he’s in remission now and feels well enough to start playing again. The first song that made me stop and listen was “Not For Me”, a song that expresses the fears and hopes of a woman on the brink of insanity. But “Marbridar” almost made me forget I was so frazzled earlier today, I accidentally stole a bottle of lemonade.

   $100 - Marbridar

To celebrate the big weekend 100b had, thanks to all you Manic Street Preachers fans, and our first time on the top of The Hype Machine’s Popular Tracks List (well, we’ve been bumped now, but I swear we were #1 for a while there), I’m going to have a look at another great cover song.

Generally speaking, things are most Poptastic when they’re not taken too seriously. A very earnest song that’s really crappy is usually just a crappy song. But when taken with a with a sense of humor, that crappy song can sometimes go so far that it’s good. Absurdity + A Giggle = Poptasticism. If you listened to Styx’s “Come Sail Away” (possibly my all-time Poptastic favorite) literally, it would be one of the dumbest things you’d ever heard. But the ability to laugh with it makes it fantastically fun.

Many moons ago, aDawgg and I referred to this as the Fugly Scale - though it’s really more of a cycle - and it works with all kinds of different things. Jokes can be so dumb they’re funny - this applies to almost anything in the “yo’ momma” or “that’s what she said” areas. Movies can be so horrendously bad they’re hilarious (see also: The Wiz). If you don’t enjoy the dumbassness of them, they’re just crap.

So, following that totally half-baked theory through a little further: if something that isn’t Poptastic (because it takes itself too seriously) is then refurnished by someone who can have a giggle, does it then become Poptastic? Inverse Poptasticism, if you will.

I downloaded this live cover from a blog at least three years ago (I have no idea who, so I apologize for not giving proper credit), and it at least doesn’t disprove this nonsense. On its own, Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” is just an annoyingly catchy, big dumb pop song. Ben Gibbard has a laugh with it and turns it into an awesome cover version, thus embracing Poptasticism.

   Ben Gibbard - Complicated (Live)

Just when I thought I could not get more jealous of all you people who get to go to South By Southwest. The AP tells us that Hip Hop has gotten more and more of a foothold on SXSW. Ice Cube, Bun B, The Clipse, Dizzee Rascal, 2 Live Crew, Talib Kweli, The Cool Kids are just a selection of the mouth-watering acts that grace the festival’s stages. For those of you who are missin’ out as well, let the amazing Cool Kids rub-a-dub-dub some more salt in the wound. Damn, that smarts.

   The Cool Kids - Pump Up The Volume
   The Cool Kids - ‘88

It’s been a while since we looked at the current singles charts, so I thought we’d check out the UK Top 100 Singles this week. But yeah, the Top 10 was pretty dull. How about we look at the chart’s new entries? Here’s a few of the most interesting singles to hit the chart for the first time this week:

#15 We Are Scientists - After Hours

I’m not a huge We Are Scientists fan, but their singles are always catchy as hell. And they’re always good for a laugh. Plus, dogs are funny.

#30 The Futureheads - The Beginning Of The Twist

I am, however, a massive Futureheads fan. I wasn’t too impressed when this first started playing - it felt like maybe they’d lost some punch. But “The Beginning Of The Twist” worms its way into your brain pretty quickly and by the end of that first listen, I loved it. Like most Futureheads singles, despite my initial reaction, this has anthem written all over it. Plus, it’s always nice to see one of your favorite bands do well in the charts.

#48 Mystery Jets - Young Love

Hmm, I actually thought the Mystery Jets broke up. Shows how on top of things I am. Anyway, this is a lovely single. Absolutely charming. I can’t claim to know how this compares to other Mystery Jets songs - I only know a couple of their songs - but I’m quite taken with this. What a great sound to have floating about as Spring finally starts to break through the grey.

#72 Estelle ft. Kanye West - American Boy

(There’s no proper video available on youtube that I could find, but at least you can check out the song)

Is Kayne West secretly King Midas? Everything that man touches is pure gold. This doesn’t seem like much because it’s so simple - an unpretentious 70s disco feel with an irresistible chorus - but that’s exactly what makes it so good. Sometimes less most definitely is more - I’ve heard it once and I’m still happily humming it to myself.

#88 Manic Street Preachers - Umbrella

And we have a winner. The mark of a truly great pop song (or any song, actually) is if someone can come along and move it to a completely different genre and it’s still awesome. This Manic Street Preachers cover of last year’s massive Rihanna hit is Flippin’ Sweet.

Look at that. There’s enough good stuff in the singles chart this week that I made it through the whole thing without making fun of anyone. That’s nice.

Is it more embarrassing to be a good rapper but a horrible actor, or a bad rapper but a good actor in a movie about a rap legend? I’m thinking the latter, which is why it’s a good thing they went with an actual rapper to play Biggie Smalls in the upcoming feature Notorious. Jamal Woolard, aka Gravy, aka that guy who got shot in the ass, is the lucky man who gets to play the big man. I’m not saying he’s automatically a bad actor, maybe he’ll pull a Mos Def or a Ludacris and light up the screen like a pro, but it is his first attempt at it so it’s gonna be interesting. In small screen news, Britney is going to play a little part in an upcoming episode of How I Met Your Mother. I’ve never seen the show but to answer the earlier question of what is more embarrassing: Britney is. How come nobody tells her that maybe it’s a good idea to have your shiz together before you go out for a part in a comedy? Geez. Didn’t your momma teach you to stop being the butt of the joke before you make your own?

MusicMagpie.co.uk had themselves a poll and the English public decided that Joy Division’s Unkown Pleasures is the most iconic album cover of all time. Yeah, that sounds about right, especially with the recent attention the band’s been getting lately. But I am surprised to see The Velvet Underground & Nico’s banana isn’t even in the top ten, it would definitely top my list. The only problem with these iconic covers is the superbly creative ways in which their popularity is milked. Remember the Unknown Pleasures inspired New Balance shoes?? Barf. I just don’t see how treading on your favorites band’s image is an expression of appreciation.

Some really good music first saw the light of day these last two weeks starting with M.I.A. & DJ Znobia’s collaboration with Buraka Som Sistema on “Sound Of Kuduro”. It’s absolutely mind blowingly amazing. My first reaction was to bust a move, but then I saw the kids in the video … They shamed me into sitting back down and hoping my headnods were on the beat.

Then the Bean alerted me that the band that makes me drool like a Pavlovian German shepherd by the mere mention of them, The Black Keys, lets us sneak a taste of their upcoming new release produced by Dangermouse. Listen to “Psychotic Girl” over on Stereogum. It’s beyond exciting, so incredibly good it hurts.

Nick Cave also has exciting news, but it’s not music related. He’s planning to finally follow up his deeply disturbing gothic novel And The Ass Saw The Angel. Yay, I can’t wait! It took me a while to finish his book, because you have to be in a certain Tim Burtonesque mood to read it, but I was surprised at how much enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to the next one.

Some of the news was so crazy that it practically forced me to set up a WTF section:
There’s talk of a Libertines musical. WTF?!? I wonder who’s going to play them?? Obviously, John Barrowman would make a good Carl and Ewan Mcgregor could combine his performances in Moulin Rouge and Trainspotting and channel Pete. Yeah, now the idea of a Libertines musical is starting to grow on me. This is followed up with reports that Pete Doherty is going to talk to teenage drug addicts. I actually think this would be a good way to use his celebrity and crack stained past. Yes, it’s on a TV show, which is a bit mweh, but at least he might help out some people.

Equally baffling but in a whole different screwed up way is the robbery surrounding early nineties industrial rock band Cop Shoot Cop. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single Cop Shoot Cop song, but the fact that this guy was in a band once upon a time, gives me an excuse to talk about this sad sad attempt at robbery. The former guitarist of the band used, as I understand it, a parfume bottle shaped like a gun for a weapon. You either have to have balls the size of melons or brains the size of a walnut or a screwy fruitsalady combo of both to pull a stunt like that.

The final WTF is no surprise. The Enemy’s frontman continues his career in Twatdom as he criticizes Arctic Monkeys yet again, but adds Muse to the list this time while he drools over Oasis and Manic Street Preachers. I know I’m just generating more heat when I give this guy attention, but I just can’t help being fascinated by the whole thing. It’s just so incredibly pathetic the way he continues to go on about how much the Arctic Monkeys are overrated. Well, at least he’s consistent, when I first wrote about them on New Band Day a while ago, I learned they started their band because they were bored with the “shit people” in their “shit town”. He just branched out to adding successful bands to his shit list. Now that’s growth.

My favorite news this week comes from Wale, an MC and huge Seinfeld fan from Washington DC, has made a Seinfeld-inspired mix tape! I don’t even want to get into the whole Seinfeld-Larry King freak out or Michael Richards not so funny stand up freak out. Let’s just say that now that half the former cast are displaying some questionable behavior it’s good to have a reminder of what made the show great.

And finally some sad news, while The Charlatans enjoy their biggest high so far with their free downloadable CD, The Dead 60s announce they split up. I was never a big fan but I did enjoy them rioting on the radio. If you still want to catch The Charlatans’ You Cross My Path you have five more days to go on over to XFM and snatch it up.

   The Dead 60s - Riot Radio

Released together with “Phuncky Feel One” as a double a-side, “How I Could Just Kill A Man” was the first single off Cypress Hill (1991) and the absolute B-O-M-B back in 1991-1992. For me at least, it’s one of those tracks which, even at the time, marked the end of the Golden Age of Hip Hop and the start of 1990s Gangsta. Sure there were other albums prior to that, but, for good or ill, releases from Ice Cube and Cypress Hill in 1990 and 1991 seemed to just smack the Golden Age into the history books.

I bought every Cypress Hill release after being grabbed by them back then and have seen them in concert twice. Some albums are better than others, but, for the nostaglia factor alone, nothing beats tracks off that first album. Today you can taste the late-Golden Age production of the original 1991 vintage, the Spanish version from Los Grandes Exitos En Español (1999) and contrast both those with the visceral Rage Against The Machine cover.

   Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill A Man
   Cypress Hill - No Entiendes La Onda

   Rage Against The Machine - How I Could Just Kill A Man

I’ll just be honest here. I was supposed to post about Ladyfingers a long time ago. Like maybe almost a year ago, possibly. I kept putting it off because, I guess, I wasn’t sure I could do him any justice. Also, (and some may say this is a little pathetic and that may be true) a part of me loves this music so much that I kind of didn’t want to share it. Not that I don’t love you all, gentle readers, but it was nice to keep it as my own little secret treasure for a while. (And I hope it’s understood that trying to keep music as my secret is probably the highest compliment I can give.)

But that’s all blown to crap, pretty much, because Ladyfingers will be playing at SXSW in exactly one week’s time. In the same line up as one Billy Bragg. Since everyone with any taste is going to be peeing their pants over this within a few weeks (or at least I hope so), the jig is pretty much up.

So let’s see - the best way I can describe Ladyfingers - basically Mr. Adam Weiner (songwriter and singer) with assorted others - is as absolute rockabilly mayhem. Seriously, it just blows you you away, knocks you across the room, makes your hair stand straight up. The first song I heard was “Cure For The Common Cold” (below) and it blasted through my speakers like a tiny tornado. I just sat there, a little stunned and absolutely sure I needed to hear it again, right away. But I ordered the album, My Prom, first.

As wonderful as every aspect of My Prom is, the thing that keeps me listening is Adam Weiner’s incredible, indescribable, vocals. His singing is clearly influenced by countless greats (Elvis and Buddy Holly among them) but is completely his own. He growls, hiccups, squeaks, croons, hollers - and sometimes all within a few seconds of each other - there’s no one else quite like this. You’ll definitely like Ladyfingers if you’re, like me, also a fan of Dan Sartain - but that’s the only artist I can think of who is even vaguely similar.

Clearly, you need to hear this for yourself. And if you’re at SXSW, you lucky bastards, check him out next Friday night (details on Ladyfingers’ Myspace) and then come back and tell me how awesome it was. But, pretty please, try not to rub it in too much.

   Ladyfingers - Cure For The Common Cold
   Ladyfingers - Ladyfingers

In September 2006, tamboosh posted about Pete & The Pirates for New Band Day when everyone else was pissing themselves over the Arctic Monkeys.

Back then they had only the Stop Wait Begin EP to their name. Now, Pete & The Pirates are in full effect with their debut LP Little Death, which you’ve probably at least heard something about. We ain’t throwing up “Mr. Understanding”. Instead, give “Bright Lights” a spin. If you like both of these tracks, then you’ll enjoy the album.

For more head over to the official Pete & The Pirates site.

   Pete & The Pirates - Bright Lights

100b is no stranger to The Boy Least Likely To. I’ve adored them ever since I heard the first few notes of “Be Gentle With Me”. The Best Party Ever is an absolutely perfect album. Their blog is just about my favorite thing to read anywhere on the internets. I’m totally their #1 fan. And that thing they do - the kindergarten school band playing slightly dark little tunes - sounds like it’s gotten even better than before. Unbelievable, but true.

Listen to three new tracks from their upcoming second (so far still Untitled, as far as I know) album at The Boy Least Likely To’s Myspace. Plus, you can download the first single, “I Box Up All The Butterflies”, for free (with darling cover art, featuring the little bird above) via their official site, so I won’t share it here. Instead, enjoy the track that made me fall in love with them in the first place.

   The Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me

The Flamingos’ version of “I Only Have Eyes For You” from 1959 has an immediate romantic impact. Even before the vocals chime in, the music magically transports you to a warm, fuzzy place, so it’s not surprising it can be found on a long list of soundtracks. From the Sopranos to My Girl (the sugary sweet movie in which Macaulay Culkin suffers a death by bees), this is the love ballad used to underscore romantic moments. When I first heard it in full, I couldn’t remember it beyond the first chorus, even though I’d heard it a thousand times. See, that’s where it normally cuts to the next scene, or where the Time-Life advertisement switches to the next classic hit from the Lifetime Of Romance Box Set.

This song has transformed into an icon of romance. You know when you hear it there are candles, googoo eyes, and slow dances in the near future. That’s why I think it’s Poptastic, not because it’s so bad it’s good, as is usually the case, but because it’s enough already! I’m sure there are plenty of other songs that are fit to take over the torch of love. How about giving The Moonglows’ “Most Of All” a go? Or, instead of a Doo-Wop ballad, how about Bright Eyes’ “First Day Of My Life”? Judge for yourself, could these songs carry a romantic scene just as well as “I Only Have Eyes For You”? I think they do, but what do I know, I think cheese is a romantic gift.

   The Moonglows - Most Of All
   Bright Eyes - First Day Of My Life

Filthy Little Angels has given us so much free fun with all their themed mixes and here’s our chance to give back! They have only 25 days to raise 600 dollars to fund the pressing of a new 7″ record by The Lovely Eggs vs The Sexual Hot Bitches. Judging from the two songs below this new recording is going to be a hot little piece of dirty rock ‘n roll. So go on, donate at fundable.com and be a part of music history from the comfort of your computer.

The Lovely Eggs - I Like Birds
Sexual Hot Bitches - Floorshow/Fanfare/Don’t Dream It, Be It (from the Filthy Horror Show Mix)

The Voluntary Butler Scheme is Rob Jones’ one man band from Stourbridge. At times he channels The Jackson Five as in “Tabasco Sole”, sometimes he sounds more like The Sweet as in “Trading Things In”, but his lyrics are always witty and I’m always blown away by his abillity to make a big, big sound all on his lonesome. His songs feature ample handclaps and doobeedoos, which is really all I ask from a good song. As far as I can tell he’s had no official releases, but he does have a shorter than short free EP on a seperate page on the myspace. These songs go by so swiftly, they’re more like very good jingles, but he wrote them on his lunch break. Imagine what he can do on a day off!

Hm, what else might make you want to give his work a whirl? He just writes incredibly sweet, clever, but whimsical songs that made me laugh while a super scary storm was passing through my neighborhood. Oh, and he looks hot in that picture. Yep, hotness. An important factor often overlooked by the serious music press. Luckily, I’m neither press nor serious, except when I said he made good music.

   The Voluntary Butler Scheme - Baking