Not as many tracks this week, I’m afraid. Busy Busy.
Last month, I gave you a look at a track from the new Duran Duran album which is out in November. Well, the geniuses at the record label didn’t pick “Nite Runner” as the lead single — they picked this track, which, although not bad, is….well….kinda boring in comparison. Duran Duran – “Falling Down (Single Edit).” Yeah, why go with the track produced by Timbaland, one of the hottest producers in the business right now, when you can lead with that? I’m reminded of the early 90s, when the label sunk the brilliant album “Liberty” by making the worst track on the album (“The Violence of Summer”) the lead (and only) single. Dumbasses.
Speaking of producers — that’s who’s getting the praise for Britney Spears’ new album. The funny thing is, they did the smartest thing they could with her — made her fade into the background on her own album. She’s just another instrument to be manipulated by the brilliant producers that actually crafted the songs. As a result, the album is getting fairly good reviews, and all praising the work of the producers. Bloodshy & Avant, the Swedish producers who did her “Toxic” single, were responsible for this track, for example, which has some interesting things to say about the price of fame, the media, and the sexualization of music, all at the same time as it manages to be a slamming club track: Britney Spears – “Piece of Me.”
A lot of folks enjoyed the RJD2 track that I posted last week (the theme from “Mad Men”), and I realized that a lot of folks aren’t that familiar with this work, so here’s another of his creations, grabbing sounds from dozens of sources and sculpting them together: RJD2 – “Ghostwriter.”
The music from the Dell laptop commercial wormed its way into my head, so I went on a quest to track it down and slay it in its lair. Here’s the beast: The Flaming Lips – “The W.A.N.D.”
New band from the UK, whose debut EP is coming out this month from Erased Tapes. I really like the sound — kinda shoe-gazey, but a beautiful mix of instrumentation, electronics and harmonies. British Expeditionary Force – “All Those Demons.”
Lastly, I used to be a big fan of Yes. Specifically, I got into the band during the early 80s with “90125”, which led me backward to the classic releases. But unlike many Yes fans, I prefered the 80s output — I think because it coincided with my high school and early college years, and the memories that resuslt. The follow up to “90125”, “Big Generator”, was nowhere near as popular an album, but contained several tracks which remain some of my favorites. For example: Yes – “Almost Like Love.”
There you go. Now, back to writing.