"The follow-up to a massive hit can go several ways, but the main possibilities include: 1) an almost exact simulation, a lucky strike turned into a formula or 2) the hit is used as a springboard to go deeper and weirder, with the added confidence caused by unexpected success. The results in the latter case can be explosive: just think of the Kinks' All Day and All of the Night." Jon Savage, The Guardian, 1/25/10.
Savage has a nice article today on a Soft Cell single I'd never heard before, and his description above of the creative dilemma of the second single is spot on.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Passions
The Smiths/Morrissey fansite Passions Just Like Mine, an exhaustive summary of the borrowings of an allusive master, in an SftD must-read. The site reveals Morrissey as a songwriter set on filtering what he heard (and saw) through his own voice. Especially interesting is the section on the plays of Shelagh Delaney, whose A Taste of Honey and The Lion in Love are a veritable Rosetta Stone for the Smiths' early material.
Here's a line (from a song which the Passions site says may refer to Delaney) reworking Bowie...
Here's a line (from a song which the Passions site says may refer to Delaney) reworking Bowie...
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Turnarounds
Nirvana did two sessions for the BBC just as Nevermind was breaking in the U.S. (Several of the songs were released on Incesticide.) The first was with John Peel and included these Devo and Vaselines' covers...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Jungles
When writing last week's post on the Illegal Art article, I noticed that this famous example was missing.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Shades
Jay Reatard died yesterday. His last release was this track from a tribute album for New Zealand musician Chris Knox, who suffered a stroke last year. (The original by Knox's band Toy Love can be heard here.)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Lonelys
A lot of dubstep washes over me with little effect... here's a track that is shadowy and disorienting, an example of everything that does work in the genre. The vocal sample works hard here, disembodying Diana Ross and leaving her lonely with no hope of resolution...
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