Author: Gareth

I know, it’s been a while. Been busy. Good stuff this week, though:

First up, The Scissor Sisters have a new album coming out in June, and they’ve released the first single as a free download — which is why this entry looks a bit different. I figured if they’ve gone through the trouble to authorize a free download, I should reward that forward thinking by using the official Java widget. With this, you can choose to stream and listen, or click to download. I like this track — this time around, they appear to be flirting with an early-80s Duran Duran vibe a bit:

Next up: an absolutely blistering dancefloor remix of Disturb’s “Down With the Sickness.” (Not authorized or official, of course — just some brilliant chopping, mixing and knob-twiddling by an industrious DJ): Disturbed – “Down With The Sickness (Angie Remix).”

Chuck D of Public Enemy recorded a song that dealt with the ridiculousness of building a wall on the US-Mexico border in Arizona — and released it as a solo track (under the name Mistachuck) right after the “Papers, Please” law was passed. He even samples his own work — the classic PE track “By the Time I Get To Arizona” — Mistachuck – “Tear Down That Wall.”

Mark Ronson (currently working with Duran Duran on their next album) put together a side project specifically to record a track to accompany a shoe design from Gucci. Yes, a shoe. Now there is an artist who thinks outside the typical radio-play paradigm. His side project, with Sam Sparo and Theophilus London, is called Chauffeur (after Ronson’s favorite Duran Duran track). Here’s the track: Chauffeur – “Soles of Fire.”

Loved this track when it was released. Still love it now, and lament that the band never hit as big again: The Primitives – “Crash.”

Ah the last gasps of England’s 70s glam movement. This song, from the early 80s, will always remind me of moving to Kansas City (it was a fairly solid radio hit at the time we first came to look at houses). Slade – “Run Run Away.”

Here are both sides of the 12-inch version of my favorite track from Thomas Dolby:
Thomas Dolby – “Dissidents (The Search For Truth, Part 1 – Dub).”
and
Thomas Dolby – “Dissidents (The Search For Truth, Part 2 – Vocal).”

Dolby is currently recording a new album, in the form of three separate EPs: Amerikana, Urbanoia and Oceanea, which will later be compiled into one album, A Map of the Floating City. The sound is far from the synth work of his past — More steampunk, with jazz mixing with traditional world music instrumentation and more. If you’d like to get an advance glimpse, this link will take you to a TED talk video, where he performs one of the tracks from Amerikana: “Love is a Loaded Pistol.”

So there you go kids. Enjoy.