I haven’t done one of these in a while. It’s long past time.
I posted (via Twitter) a killer video featuring an evil magical schoolgirl doing an amazing pole-dance to a brilliant dubstep remix of the Harry Potter theme. Sure enough, an MP3 is available. So here it is: Terabyte Frenzy – “Harry Potter and the Half-Dub Remix.”
Another track based on another brilliant video (which I’m sure most of you have seen, and if not: here ya go) of two cellists doing a ripping cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”. I’d love to see more work from these guys. Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic – “Smooth Criminal (for two cellos).”
Radiohead is releasing a new album tomorrow! King of Limbs will go live tomorrow, but you can pre-order right now. The first single has been leaked — Radiohead -“Lotus Flower.”
Gary Moore, late of Thin Lizzy, died a couple of weeks back. One of my friends in the UK posted a video from a solo record in the 80s that I had completely forgotten about, and hadn’t heard in years: Gary Moore – “Shapes of Things To Come.”
A complete gear-shift for the next couple of songs. First, a “smooth 70s” track that I’ve always loved — a lot of this genre was overproduced, soulless crap, but some of it was wonderful, and formed a sonic backdrop to my childhood, so is always associated with good memories. This song is fairly obviously built on an absolutely brilliant lyric (“Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn’t already have.”), filled out by some Oh Wowwwww psychedelia. Love it. America – “Tin Man.”
Second track which some might find out of place for me: I’m *really* not a fan of Katy Perry. Her first single (“I Kissed a Girl”) was infectious, but it soon became more than obvious that she’s ex-Christian-music product, dabbling in titillation from a purely marketing-driven effort. That said — I *love* this song. I heard it the first few times without realizing who it was, and soon found myself in one of those uncomfortable situations where you like a song by someone you really don’t like. Screw it. Don’t Judge. This is a great pop song — catchy, uplifting and well-crafted. Katy Perry – “Firework.”
Jason Blair pointed me in the direction of this song earlier today — it’s the theme of the Canadian TV series ReGenesis, done by a “band” called “Behavior” — which is really just the name used by composer Michael McCann, who has done scores for videogames like Splinter Cell, Deus Ex, Tom Clancy’s Endwar, etc. This is pretty much right up my alley — a great bit of cinematic trip-hop, sweeping instrumentation, killer beats and smoky vocals. Behavior – “Anywhere But Here (feat. Andrea Revel).”
An amazing ode to the city I love, which captures the way a lot of us feel about how the city has changed. “Like a death in the heart, Jesus where do I start? But you’re still the one pool where I’d happily drown.” LCD Soundsystem – “New York, I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down.”
Enjoy, kids. I won’t wait as long to post another one.