It's summer and the number of publications has slowed down. This is also reflected in my inbox, which hasn't been overflowing for a long time. Every now and then I find some real gems in these emails, which should not go unmentioned here.
Duncan Lloyd released today his new album Unwound. He is the lead songwriter and guitarist of the art-rocker Maximo Park and he presents us an guitar lead album full of great songs somewhere between shoegaze, indie-pop and songwriting. Swim is one of those songs which creeps into your ears with its sparkling guitar and reduced drums and doesn't want to disappear. Rituals could be one of the best indie-pop song this year so far. Get more here.
The weekly journey into color and temperature takes us back to the eighties and the noughties. Let's start with a song from 1983 by Prince. With his album 1999 he became known to a wider public. Not so much because of his idiosyncratic interpretation of funk, but also because of his sexual innuendo in Little Red Corvette.
The Cure released in 1987 their first double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me a record whereupon The Cure impressed with an unprecedented wealth of facets. The addition of new instruments and the sometimes unconventional song structures annoyed one or two fans in black outfits. Many of the songs are sunnier than everything they recorded before and after. And on Hot, Hot, Hot they played a superb funk-pop.
Blue Orchid was the opening track from Get Behind Me Satan the fifth album by The White Stripes. The song shows exactly what you could expect from the whole album: minimal played, raw blues with great hooks.
I can hardly believe it's been 12 years since Kevin Rowland and the Dexy's appeared on stage again with a great album. To be honest, I loved them since they released their debut Searching For The Young Soul Rebels. Rowland was the one that brought us back soul music in times where new wave ruled the sound. Classic songwriting and superb brass section was their style. And of course Rowland gambled with styles and outfits. From New York dock workers to ragged Irishmen, everything was there.
After two albums he kicked out the brass section to play more introverted songs. The fans couldn't follow this good music and he vanished in the darkness of the music scene to return in 2012 with a brilliant comeback album One Day I'm Going To Soar. The horns and especially Mick Talbot are back and Roland wrote songs about love, self-analysis and self-acceptance. Many of his words seemed to be pathetic but for me they were true and full of wisdom
Yesterday, the Anlo-Italian producer and musician Gaudi released a new single. Gaudi has been working as a producer for decades, mainly in the dub, electronica and reggae genres. He has also made a name for himself as a remixer and his collaboration with The Orb.
For his latest collaboration, he has teamed up with Italy's longest-serving DJ, Daniele Baldelli, and completed an EP. A foretaste of what is to come can be heard on the pre-released song. A conglomerate where elements of psychedelic funk, tribal dub and electronic disco come together.
Today the sad news arrived, that Michael Madsen died yesterday on a heart attack at the age of 68 in Malibu. Madsen was an actor for more than 40 years in Los Angeles. He got well known by the movies directed by Quentin Tarantino. To be honest I first recognized him on Tarantion's first movie Reservoir Dogs when he performed as Mr. Blonde, the biggest sociopath in the whole movie. What perhaps remains is his improvised and bloody foley scene in which he awkwardly dances through the scene to the music of Stealers Wheel.
Today Vince Clarke turns 65 and it is time to pay tribute to his work here. Born in Essex he studied violin and piano. Influenced by Sparks, Human League and Fat Gadget he formed with a schoolmate a short lived band which became Depeche Mode after Martin Gore and Dave Gahan joined the band. Clarke wrote the most of the songs for their debut album Speak & Spell, a record that changed everything in synthpop. Not only that they were an all-synthesizer band, they were clever enough to write songs with great hooks.
Shortly after this album he left the band, because the sound of them got a darker touch and he formed with Alison Moyet, another schoolmate, Yazoo. They released two albums and with Upstairs at Eric's they reached the charts. Since then, it has become clear that Clarke's songs need a great voice to come to full fruition.
As erratic as he appears, he dedicated himself to a new project after the second album and founded The Assembly. But not much more than Never, Never, in which Feargal Sharkey is allowed to sing, remained.
With his next project he found a destination for the next years. In Andy Bell, he found a voice that would shape the sound of Erasure through an advertisement in Melody Maker.
In 2003 Erasure released Other People's Songs an album with cover versions in which the cover version by Steve Harley stands out above all (because it is also a great song).
