Vondelpark - California Analog Dream

Another take on the ‘beach’ theme/meme, this time through the filter of home movies via a VCR-style ‘tracking’ effect.

I’m starting to wonder how much empty nostalgia I can handle.

July 7th

How did I ever miss this? Stay with it until 3:53 at least (via perpetua)

Miles Fisher 
“This Must Be The Place”

Miles Fisher’s recording of this Talking Heads classic is only slightly novel, and doesn’t have a great deal to add to the song. That is definitely not the case for David Green’s extraordinarily slick music video, in which the chilly precision and deliberate twitchiness of Fisher’s version is fleshed out by having him slip into Christian Bale’s version of Patrick Bateman from Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho. On one hand, it’s enough just to nudge the aloof sweetness of David Byrne into full-on sociopath territory, but there’s a lot more going on here. Fisher’s main gig is acting, and so there’s some implied commentary on acting, on Bale’s performance, on Bale himself, on an aspiration to be Bale-esque — or is that Bateman-esque? (Batman-esque?) This is also about the act of adaptation and appropriation — covering songs, remaking films, turning books into movies. Midway through the clip, the music fades out so Fisher can play out a version of Bateman’s most famous tic — his smarmy recontexualization of cheesy ’80s pop music. It’s for laughs, sure, but it’s poking fun at the perceived “greatness” of the song itself, and Fisher himself for attempting to redefine someone else’s work of art.

July 7th

Once I was old enough to be interested in discovering music of my own, I gravitated to reverb-drenched 60’s Californian and Texan pop: The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Bobby Fuller, Roy Orbison, …  It was all probably in rebellion against my older sister’s David Lee Roth/Van Halen and my older brother’s Iron Maiden & Motley Crue.

The last few Best Coast tracks I’ve heard really fill my need for reverb, fuzzy/muted guitar, and bittersweet lyrics.

via perfectpopsongs (my new fav music Tumblr):

113 BEST COAST - “WHEN I´M WITH YOU”

So she moved to New York City and started working on music that blended the vulnerability of Girly Sound-era Liz Phair with a budget version of Phil Spector’s wall-of-sound splendor.

Cowritten with multi-instrumentalist bandmate Bobb Bruno, gorgeously reverbed ballads like “Make You Mine,” “Boyfriend,” and “When I’m With You” were inspired by her memories of growing up in L.A. and are suffused with a classically Californian melancholy. “I listen to a lot of ’60s beach music,” she explains. “It sounds happy and innocent, but it was made during a time that wasn’t happy or innocent at all.”

Turns out other people love bittersweet beach tunes, too. Thurston Moore, who once handpicked an old Cosentino project to open for Sonic Youth, has professed his fandom; “When I’m With You” is featured in commercials for the hit BBC teen drama Skins” (Melissa Maerz. Spin Magazine)

July 7th

Gosh, 30-years ago today, some pretty good play-by-the-numbers two-tone ska came out (courtesy of newwavetimewarp):

…And also apropos-of-not-much ska, like Arthur Kay and the Originals’ “Play My Record” single, released July 7, 1980.

I really dig the Meatloaf/Bat out of Hell-styled Lambretta on the album cover.

July 7th
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

I had a lot of fun putting this week’s Last Dance at the Death Disco together! I’ll do another one of these around WMBR’s fundraising time (November-ish).

lastdancedeathdisco:

Playlist: 2010-07-05 NEWORDERedition ♫

New Order is dead! Long live the New Order!

2 hours of music by and produced by the members of New Order (Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, and Phil Cunningham). Yes, this means you’ll be hit by the monstrosity that is Revenge’s Pineapple Head (that is, Peter Hook takes a break from NO after Temptation and creates an album who’s cover is 100x better than its contents). But we also played some classic Be Music produced (that is, Sumner, Hook, and Morris produced) dance hits (52nd Street, Quando Quango, …) and various other side projects. We didn’t get to Bad Lieutenant or Freebass this time around, but we’ll likely do a version of this show again.

You can download or stream this online from WMBR.org

Clicking on an Artist or Song will open a new window displaying all other times that Artist or Song has been played.

July 6th

Roland Barthes Reviews "Pac-Man."

All game reviews should aspire to this. No screenshots, no 8 for the graphics, 5 for the gameplay, 4 for audio review breakdown. In fact, no mention of bump mapping or if it’s worth your $.25.

Yes, McSweeny’s is a humor magazine. Pastiche or parody, there’s still some meaning to this article.

July 5th
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Last week’s playlist and recording. Chilled pop, lo-fi, and shoegaze for hot summer days. There’s a sing-a-long halfway through, perfect for beach bonfires.

lastdancedeathdisco:

Playlist: 2010-06-28 Another Night at the Beach ♫ 

This playlist is filled with nostalgia both real and imaginary. I’m not sure why I have a fascination with being young and bored at the beach. I’m blaming it on the ‘rad’ imagery in use for indie music these days.

You can download or stream this online.

Clicking on an Artist or Song will open a new window displaying all other times that Artist or Song has been played.

July 5th

New Order - Blue Monday (via lastdancedeathdisco)

I’m coming in to the radio station today (on my holiday!) to broadcast and record 2 hours of music by (and produced by) New Order.

Tune in to WMBR tonight at 10pm (Eastern) or check deathdisco.fm tomorrow for the playlist and podcast!

July 5th
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.] Best Coast - Boyfriend

It’s songs like this that make me wish I was 15 years younger (odd because my usual wish is to be 15 years older). It features the right amount of wishful naivite without being sentimental - the exact right formula caught by most 50s/early-60’s R&B girl groups.

britticisms:

New Best Coast!

“Boyfriend” by Best Coast

A year ago, I never thought that Best Coast would amount to much more than a set of solid singles. There was this huge influx of appealing, possibly generic lo-fi music that seemed to dominate last summer. But with each new song or EP Bethany has released, her aesthetic has only gotten stronger, more interesting and characteristically Best Coast. And her voice! She has this vulnerability that makes the yearning of her music so irresistible. Sometimes I think she writes these songs for helpless romantics who’ve publicly conformed to the jaded, passive personality of contemporary youth. Maybe that’s reading too much into her music. Maybe it’s accurate.

“Boyfriend” is the opening track to Best Coast’s debut album.

June 28th
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Consider last week’s Last Dance at the Death Disco a ‘part 1’ to tonight’s ‘part 2’.

lastdancedeathdisco:

Playlist: 2010-06-21 A Day and Night at the Beach ♫ 

The beach was never my thing as a kid. It’s only now, as an adult with a job and a house and responsibilities that I can truly appreciate what the beach means. There’s some ‘chillwave’ in here, and some ‘glo-fi’. You might think it’s trendy. If thinking about being broke and jobless and trying not to think about it is trendy, so be it. Let’s just go to the beach and relax.

Also, I think I was too out of it for this to come across on the air last night. Instead we pleaded for attention by offering free concert tickets that no one wanted.

You can download or stream this online from WMBR.org

Clicking on an Artist or Song will open a new window displaying all other times that Artist or Song has been played.

June 28th