Dilated Choonz: pop

Alboy's Best of 2011: #9

The Mighty Alboy — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

LCD Soundsystem- “I Can Change” (London Session)

Thought this was from 2011, but dammit, it was released in Nov 2010.

This is just a great tune- James Murphy’s lyrics are splendid, and musically it’s highly reminiscent of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (who are still going, can you believe?). This from the London Sessions recordings, which are particularly fine- found it hard to choose between this and all my friends.

2011 was a poignant year for LCD Soundsystem. Frontman James Murphy had turned 40, and he had previously said “I’ll just do this until I’m 40, and then I’ll do something else” which he duly did- so 2011 saw LCD play their last gig- at Madison Square Garden NYC. The place was packed out, and a friend of mine told me he left at the end of the set to beat the rush. This was after the first hour or so- only to find out on the way home that the show had gone on for another two hours. Strictly no re-admissions, unfortunately…

Here’s a live performance of this tune on Jools Holland

OMG, it's OMD! ::

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Happy birthday!

The Mighty Alboy — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:49:00 +0100

The White Stripes – “We’re going to be friends”

A short post to mark the happy and blessed occasion of the birth of our second baby daughter last Friday morning.

She weighed in at 9lb 10oz, but Mrs Alboy made short work of the labour, putting in a champion performance once again.

We’re all just settling in and getting to know the not-so-little one. Havent got as far as a name yet, but it’ll come…

In the meantime, please enjoy this sweet dedicatory number from the White Stripes, which featured as the opening theme tune to a favourite movie of mine- Napoleon Dynamite- and serves well as the opening theme for life with our new little girl…

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Weatherall version

The Mighty Alboy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:27:00 +0000

st.etienne – “only love can break your heart” (andy weatherall mix in two halves)

Here’s that weatherall remix

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1990 "Dub"-style Pop Cover Versions [1]

The Double K — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:32:00 +0000

Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart

For some strange reason I got a real urge to hear this track over the weekend – it’s been a long time, and so I dug out my dusty old copy of Foxbase Alpha to give it a whirl. I’d totally forgotten what a total gem the LP is – a completely of-its-time innovative mix of girlie indie pop, dub, house and ambient flavours that still sounds great today. This Neil Young cover version isn’t the only highlight – the completely feel-good Nothing Can Stop Us and deep house of Stoned To Say The Least also stand out for me.

I don’t know any of their later stuff at all – and a quick look at Discogs shows they have kept themselves plenty busy over the years. I did hear 2005’s Tales From Turnpike House a year or so ago, but it didn’t do it for me at all.

Still, after unearthing Foxbase Alpha I might have a dig round some of their older stuff to see if there are a few more gems to be found.

It seems they have a brand-new Greatest Hits box-set out London Conversations – you can get it at the links below.

Buy London Conversations :: 2 CDs for under £9
Buy London Conversations Enhanced :: 2 CDs + DVD for under £15
Official Saint Etienne Site ::

1990 "Dub"-style Pop Cover Versions [2]

The Double K — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Beats International – Dub Be Good To Me

Hearing Only Love Can Break Your Heart again reminded me of this track, which also falls into the very specific genre of “Dub” style pop cover versions from 1990. As far as I can think (and I haven’t thought very hard at all about this!) these may even be the only two tracks in existence that fit the genre. If you can think of any others then leave a comment to let me know. Obviously there are hundreds of “proper” reggae dub cover versions about, but I’m thinking more of this dub-in-the-loosest-possible-sense-of-the-term-early-90s-pop type of cover version.

Anyway, this cover of The SOS Band’s Just Be Good To Me is from the time when Norman Cook was simply an ex-Housemartin dabbling with dance music, a good few years before he emerged as the fully-engorged knob Fatboy Slim. It’s not a bad track – I bought the 7” at the time.