Month: July 2005

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OMFG DURAN MFing DURAN!!!11!

Last night’s Duran Duran show was, without a doubt, the best of the three times I have seen them to date. Brilliant. Absolutely at the top of their form…it was like they had walked out of 1985. Hell, Simon even looked distinctly less puffy than when we saw him in NYC in 2000…boy’s obviously been hitting a gym.

Basically, a greatest-hits show, with a few tracks from the latest CD, but they played no less than 3 songs from their first album (“Planet Earth”–which they opened with, appropriately enough, “Careless Memories” and “Sound of Thunder”–during which they took an extended breakdown, while Nick switched the synth hook over the famous Giorgio Moroder riff from Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”, which the back-up vocalist sung a few verses of while Simon grabbed some water). They also played “New Religion” and “View To A Kill”, which was very cool. During the breakdown of “Girls on Film”, they broke into Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Wanna Take You Higher” before sequeing back into “Girls on Film”, and then into Dee-Lite’s “Groove is in the Heart” for a few bars. It was obvious that they were having fun playing together, and that really made it out into the audience.

Herself picked up a DD three-quarter-sleeve T-shirt, and I grabbed the CD from the amazingly good opening band, Stimulator, which features the lead singer of Pillbox and the guitarist from Snake River Conspiracy doing a sort of retro-heavy Blondie-meets-Garbage kinda thing, which completely won over the crowd (which is saying a lot when you’re the opening act for a legendary band, and nobody’s ever heard of you). I’ll be providing a sample of their work this coming Friday.

Of course, the minute that Duran Duran took the stage, the entire place stood up, and remained standing for the 2+ hours that followed. So, yeah….ouch, ankles.

Finished up some work this morning, then went to lunch with Laura and Yosa, who then proceeded to drop me off to see The Devil’s Rejects while they went pattern and fabric shopping. I liked the film, but not as much as House of 1000 Corpses (in particular, I think his choice to try and make the killers somewhat sympathetic in the second half of the film was a mistake).

…and that was my weekend.

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Friday Music

Off to see Duran Duran in KC tomorrow night. It’ll be the third time I’ve seen them in concert, but the first time I’ve seen the original line-up. So, in honor of that, here’s one of my favorite tracks by Simon, Nick, John, Andy and Roger: Duran Duran – “Hold Back The Rain (Remix)” (That’s the extended 7-inch single version, from “Night Versions – Essential Duran Duran”).

Found this gem online recently–it’s a recording of the Scissor Sisters doing a cover of a Franz Ferdinand song. The Sister’s Elton John vibe is highly in evidence here. Scissor Sisters – “Take Me Out”

I saw the video for this song last week at the Manor, and as I told , “I think I’m in love.” It turns out that it was a track from the Shakira album immediately preceding her US debut. If they had released this stuff, I would’ve been a lot more interested. This track features Arabic instrumentation mixed with Spanish lyrics…which is a combination that I suppose could be called “Moorish.” The whole thing is kicked up with some decidedly modern guitars and thundering dance beats. I *LOVE* this song. Shakira – “Ojos Asi.”

Last week, I shared some Roísín Murphy with you. This week, I got the rest of her album. WOW. I spent a lot of time hemming and hawing about which track to post this week, because the entire album is just so great. Finally, though, I’ve settled on the following: Roísín Murphy – “If We’re In Love.” In fact, I want to plug this CD so much, that I found a flash-based e-card promotion from her record label, which allows you to sample every track on the album. If your computer can handle it, click here, listen to various tracks, look at the info, and get this album.

Sometimes, I listen to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, which came out in the mid 90s, and I’m stunned at how so much of what they talked about is still an issue, 10 years later. This avant-garde alternative hip-hop group opened for U2, which gave them some limited exposure, but eventually folded after one album, with frontman Michael Franti going on to found Spearhead. Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – “Television (Drug of a Nation).”

I’m a big Thomas Dolby fan. (Surprise, surprise) None of his albums received the attention in the US that they deserved, relegating him to “one-hit-wonder” status for most, with “She Blinded Me With Science” as the sole stand-out (which wasn’t even the best song on that album, naturally). The record label hung their hopes on the lead single from his second album The Flat Earth, but it didn’t make as big a splash as “Science.” Still a great song, though: Thomas Dolby – “Hyperactive.”

More next week.

Posted on

Friday Music

Off to see Duran Duran in KC tomorrow night. It’ll be the third time I’ve seen them in concert, but the first time I’ve seen the original line-up. So, in honor of that, here’s one of my favorite tracks by Simon, Nick, John, Andy and Roger: Duran Duran – “Hold Back The Rain (Remix)” (That’s the extended 7-inch single version, from “Night Versions – Essential Duran Duran”).

Found this gem online recently–it’s a recording of the Scissor Sisters doing a cover of a Franz Ferdinand song. The Sister’s Elton John vibe is highly in evidence here. Scissor Sisters – “Take Me Out”

I saw the video for this song last week at the Manor, and as I told Mike, “I think I’m in love.” It turns out that it was a track from the Shakira album immediately preceding her US debut. If they had released this stuff, I would’ve been a lot more interested. This track features Arabic instrumentation mixed with Spanish lyrics…which is a combination that I suppose could be called “Moorish.” The whole thing is kicked up with some decidedly modern guitars and thundering dance beats. I *LOVE* this song. Shakira – “Ojos Asi.”

Last week, I shared some Roísín Murphy with you. This week, I got the rest of her album. WOW. I spent a lot of time hemming and hawing about which track to post this week, because the entire album is just so great. Finally, though, I’ve settled on the following: Roísín Murphy – “If We’re In Love.” In fact, I want to plug this CD so much, that I found a flash-based e-card promotion from her record label, which allows you to sample every track on the album. If your computer can handle it, click here, listen to various tracks, look at the info, and get this album.

Sometimes, I listen to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, which came out in the mid 90s, and I’m stunned at how so much of what they talked about is still an issue, 10 years later. This avant-garde alternative hip-hop group opened for U2, which gave them some limited exposure, but eventually folded after one album, with frontman Michael Franti going on to found Spearhead. Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – “Television (Drug of a Nation).”

I’m a big Thomas Dolby fan. (Surprise, surprise) None of his albums received the attention in the US that they deserved, relegating him to “one-hit-wonder” status for most, with “She Blinded Me With Science” as the sole stand-out (which wasn’t even the best song on that album, naturally). The record label hung their hopes on the lead single from his second album The Flat Earth, but it didn’t make as big a splash as “Science.” Still a great song, though: Thomas Dolby – “Hyperactive.”

More next week.

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