blame it on disco

DEVO, a band I’ve loved since before I was born. A...

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:19:00 -0400

DEVO, a band I’ve loved since before I was born. A postmodern extravaganzaa that at some point, with the changing times, became modern. We know and love them for their amazing synth capabilities, making sounds that make you both laugh and wince at their perfect construction.

A casual DEVO fan, or maybe someone who only knows “Whip It”, may easily write them off as a joke, a band with no backbone or emotions. I think part of what makes DEVO so amazing is that underneath all the goofiness there is a real sense of love, both lost and found. And how po-mo is that?

I recently found myself reacquainted with a song that always had my feet tapping as a child, and was just overwhelmed by the raw declarations made in the lyrics. If you have ever been in love, or just dreamed about it, I’m sure you can relate to Mothersbaugh’s sentiments in “I Desire”

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE THOUGHT
THAT YOUR LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
AND YOUR GESTURES HAVE THE POWER
TO BRING THE WHOLE WORLD TO ITS KNEES

DON’T LET ME TORMENT YOU
DON’T LET ME BRING YOU DOWN
DON’T EVER LET ME HURT YOU
DON’T LET ME FAIL BECAUSE

I DESIRE YOUR ATTENTION
I DESIRE YOUR PERFECT LOVE
I DESIRE NOTHING MORE (THAN THIS)

TO GIVE YOU HAPPINESS
COULD BECOME A LIFETIME GOAL
A SMILE I MIGHT BRING YOU
IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WORLD PEACE

DON’T LET ME TORMENT YOU
DON’T LET ME BRING YOU DOWN
DON’T EVER LET ME HURT YOU
DON’T LET ME FAIL BECAUSE

I DESIRE YOUR ATTENTION
I DESIRE YOUR PERFECT LOVE
I DESIRE NOTHING MORE

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FACT
THAT YOU’RE WISE TO WALK AWAY
FOR NOTHING IS MORE DANGEROUS
THAN DESIRE WHEN IT’S WRONG

DON’T LET ME TORMENT YOU
DON’T LET ME BRING YOU DOWN
DON’T EVER LET ME HURT YOU
DON’T LET ME FAIL BECAUSE

I DESIRE YOUR ATTENTION
I DESIRE YOUR PERFECT LOVE
I DESIRE NOTHING MORE (OR LESS)

Damn, you can’t really say anything bad about early...

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:20:05 -0500

Damn, you can’t really say anything bad about early Talking Heads. Just wish the video was louder.

So fucking stoked. Singapore loves Mystery Jets too :p

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:17:37 -0500

So fucking stoked. Singapore loves Mystery Jets too :p

This is my favorite remix at the moment. Probably the best Cut...

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:11:45 -0500

This is my favorite remix at the moment. Probably the best Cut Copy remix to date.

Aretha Franklin- Tiny Sparrow I feel like this has to have been...

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:23:50 -0500

Aretha Franklin- Tiny Sparrow

I feel like this has to have been sampled in a rap song all sped up like. It’s perfect and has that inspirational theme that Kanye and Jigga love to drop on their more serious tracks. Also the fact that she is 23 here is pretty mind-blowing.

I Can’t Wait - 1965

Also can you believe the beat on this track? The groove is fantastic and in the very beginning tricks you into thinking it’s from way later than it actually is. Sexy, deep house black beat. Has this been sampled? By like Beyonce or Eve or something?

My Mine - Hypnotic Tango I have weird 80’s flashbacks of...

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:44:00 -0500

My Mine - Hypnotic Tango

I have weird 80’s flashbacks of songs that my folks used to play all the time. There were a series of mixtapes made by each of them that were almost always being played in the car. Along with appropriate 80’s staples like The Cure, The Violent Femmes and The Psychedelic Furs came random blasts of stuff like this. My dad sent me a link to this video lately saying it’s still one of his favorite songs. I have the original 12” vinyl hand me down thanks to him/them. Apparently it was a big hit in Chicago. Good times.

Dungen had me at Tat Det Lugnt. I was never huge into...

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:51:00 -0500

Dungen had me at Tat Det Lugnt. I was never huge into psychedelia; in moderation it’s great but the connection never went that deep for me. What I love about Dungen is that it has brought not only psychedelic but Swedish folk music to the “indie” masses, making it accesible to someone like me who’s groove lies somewhere else.

Tio Betar, the 2007 follow up to Tat De Lugnt never really hooked me and so when 4 dropped recently I was already under the guise that Dungen was something of my past, a nostalgic throwback to college days. Mistake! The new lp is like getting into the band for the first time. Not because it’s anything too new for them but there seems to be a focus to the album that I couldn’t really locate in Tio Betar.

My favorite track from the album thus far has been Det Tar Tid which translates to It Takes Time (thanks Linnea!!). It starts with this fantastic guitar riff that builds to Ejstes’ signature whine/croon that then flows into this fantastical Dungen etheral chorus. To top it off about 2.5 minutes in there is a drum solo that never ceases to get me moving. Basically it’s come to the point where I go into withdrawal if I don’t hear this song several times a day and am constantly humming the riffs and vocals. It’s a feeling not new to me, but one that has maybe been absent for a while now.