RIP Ric Ocasek

An influence of mine died last week. Ric was 75. There have been tributes all over the place. I'm glad the Cars got into the RRHOF before he passed. This morning DKFM played the title track from the Cars last major charting album Heartbeat City. I've always loved that song for its atmosphere, even dreamed up some storylines that could take place in that setting, but had not associated it with Shoegaze, since it came about half a decade before the Shoegaze era. But it kind of fits.

posted on Eschaton

My favorite political blog.

Montone - Bertoia

The greatness of Bertoia in capturing the essence of shoegaze cannot be overstated. They so completely get it and are able to transmit the feeling that is this genre. I am sad that they have not released anything recently.

the CMYK of Shoegaze

My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Lush, Jesus & Mary Chain. These four could define a coordinate system on which most Shoegaze artists that came after could be placed (even though J&MC and some would argue CT are not Shoegaze artists).

Canyons - Barrie

I'll say a lot about Barrie in future posts. I actually don't know much about the band. But they changed my life with this song. It's down-tempo with a mind blowing synergy between the groove and the vocal. And the bass line I've never heard the like of before and may never hear again. A revelation. The best piece of pop music I've heard in at least 30 years, possibly my whole life. I would love to kick back to it with a drink in my hand in perpetuity at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Hold On - Roosevelt

These guys perfect the funk/disco-rooted dance rhythm track almost too well. Every ingredient for an amazing groove is right here, expertly packaged and delivered.

Walking With a Ghost - Tegan and Sara

From 2004. This song is a terrific, hooky piece of simple, tight rock (written by them, mostly Sara, according to Wikipedia). The guitar and keyboard lines sounds strikingly Cars like. Perfectly produced. I assume it is self-produced b/c I couldn't find a production credit.

Link to my current playlist

Here it is. Currenly 109 songs. Most are from the past few years but it goes back to the mid 2000s. About half are songs I heard first on WFUV and the rest are songs I found on Youtube walks.

A song series

These three songs seem to me to carry a musical idea forward, from the early 80s to the late 80s to the near-present: Quarterflash - Harden My Heart (1981); written by Quarterflash guitarist Marv Ross Alannah Myles - Black Velvet (1989); songwriters: Christopher Ward and David Tyson Lissie - When I'm Alone (2010); songwriters: Lissie, Jim Irvin, and Julian Emery

Black Box - Ride On Time

The last link at onandbeyondsongs was to this song by Black Box but the link broke. Here is an updated link.

On Songs is back

Checking in after more than 4 years. I still exist. The blog that onsongs moved to, onandbeyondsongs, is still there, but I can't find the account I used for that blog. So I'm coming back to this one, which I can access. No need to go through history. Things have been OK here. I've been keeping up with music thanks to the eclectic sounds of WFUV and keeping up with shoegaze/dreampop thanks to the most excellent internet radio station in the universe: DKFM. I have a new playlist of favorites and if I can find the time, I'll talk about them here. Up All Night by Beck from his album Colors (2017) is one of my recent favorites. Beck knows how to put a pop song together and in this album he has crafted some pretty flawless dance-rhythm tracks.

On Songs is Moving

This blog is moving to onandbeyondsongs.blogspot.com
The themes will be the same.  The look will be slightly different. My friend Darren will be joining the blog.  And I'll ask Old Grimy to stay with us as well.
See you over there!

Gu Qin

Which brings me back to the Gu Qin. This instrument gets closest to the pure sounds of nature of any that I've ever heard. I hope to play one of these some day.

Shahi Baaja

I've been thinking about getting one of these for a long time. It would be a lot of fun.  I wouldn't be able to do what Pete List is doing in the video but I could do some good stuff of my own on it.

I Can't Wait - Nu Shooz

[link] The early synth pop era resulted in a good number of fairly eclectically produced hitting the top 40.  This one is great.  One of the best uses of gogo bells in history.

Intro of Disney's Jesse

[link] Ru-Jun was into this show for a while a couple of years ago.  She still sings the theme from time to time.  It's a charming show with kids that are fun to watch but with predictably bad and over the top writing and acting.  I have always liked the intro.

El Final de la Noche - SVPER

[link] Recommended by my friend Darren.  Very reminiscent of early 80s brit/euro new wave, but also very textured and atmospheric. I love the analog equipment in the video. Good stuff.

Planet Claire - the B52's

[link] Off their first album, this song kind of summarizes the retro-kitsch-camp aesthetics. It simultaneously utilizes imagery reminiscent of golden age science fiction as well as a statement about a certain kind of person (Claire) who seems to be an image of themselves, and eventually their fans. All aspects of the song feed into this: the lyrics, the spy theme rhythm track, and the sound effects. Claire is an alien because she is different. A lot of people I knew in the 80s found this very appealing. The B52s were on the ground floor of what became a standard trope of what are now called hipsters.

the episodic 3rd The Gamers movie

[link to first episode] This one is funded via Kickstarter.  The hilarity continues. These guys are idols in the con world.

The first The Gamers movie

[link] Microscopic budget.  Still quite fun.  The actors are quite a big younger.