sockospice blog on Absolute Radio

Robyn

sockospice — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:27:59 +0100

Got Robyn's cd last week. Have only managed to listen to half so far, as I'm still kind of obsessed with Darren Hayes' new one, but what I've listened to so far is pretty damn impressive.

Ooberman's new one is out today, I'm going to pick it up on Saturday, as I doubt they'll have it in the Woolies in Swinton precinct! I love what they did with the jukebox on their site.

Indie label seems to be the way forward. Make the music you want to make, not the music the record company wants you to make.

This Delicate Thing We've Made

sockospice — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:57:44 +0100

Random thoughts and stuff

Side 1

A Fear of Falling Under: Atmospheric, it begins the album by allowing you to fall into this world that Darren has created. The slow build up creates that sense of falling further and further until you're completely immersed.
Who Would Have Thought: it feels like we've lived with this song for so long now, but it still sounds fresh. Where you might be tentative about where you're going to be taken on this musical journey, this reminds you that there is light, and joy, and love.
Waking The Monster: The journey begins. At first I wasn't sure about this one but it's definitely grown on me. I love songs like this that tell a tale, positioning the singer as storyteller.
How To Build A Time Machine: From the Delicacy shows, this one was my absolute favourite. Musically challenging and adventurous, lyrically heartbreaking (throwing in lines like 'the place I got beat up', and the beautifully heartbreaking 'I'll call my dad, I'll tell him I miss him... tell my reflection 'it's not your fault'), this is an absolute highlight. And it still makes me cry.
Casey: This song is just glorious. There's something about this song that means once it starts playing, I can't switch it off. Gloriously 80s but there's something perfectly 2000s about it. The soaring vocal, each time it reaches a pinacle, sends shivers down my spine – like those great moments in 80s pop. This song puts a smile on my face and leaves me feeling, to quote Popjustice, 'that everything really is going to be alright'.
Step Into The Light:I love all the remixes of this, but the original is still the best. Thumping beat, soaring vocals, into a crescendo of bliss.
Sing To Me: At first listen I really didn't like this. But Then I listened to the lyrics and listened more carefully and it's now up there with my favourites. I think that makes me a careless listener (to be honest I was still buzzing off Casey).
A Conversation With God: This song came on while we were driving down the M6 in the driving, thundering rain. It sent shivers down my spine. I just think back to times I've felt alone and having this conversation in my head with a deity who I felt so angry with. Rarely does a song touch me like that.
The Sun Is Always Blinding Me: This is one of my favourite vocals on the album.
Listen All You People: This needs to be released as a single. It's an Essential or Cruz floor filler. Uplifting, a great disco anthem.
The Only One: The emotional heart to the album. Can't help but relate to that feeling of being saved. Love the vocal too.
Bombs Up In My Face: I love this so much. It's schizophrenic, a clubbing classic. Completely different to anything Darren's ever done before, but just shows his versatility.
The Great Big Disconnect: On its own, this is a great song. Very Robbie Williams. I don't know, it just doesn't fit with the rest of the album for me. Or maybe it does. I'm not sure. Similar in a lot of ways to Bombs in terms of lyrical content, and I guess there is that vaguely political vein through the whole album. I do really like the vocal of this though. I just have this irrational dislike of songs that reference 'current' things. This album is pretty much timeless for me and references to 'Paris' root it in 2007. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's a bit of a peeve of mine.

Side 2

The Future Holds A Lions Heart: Wow, it's like jumping straight back into the 80s, but in an entirely good way. Like Waking The Monster, the storyteller paints an evocative picture.
On The Verge Of Something Wonderful: Said so much about this already, but it pretty much sums up the whole album.
Neverland: Disturbing yet almost mythical in its childlike innocence in approaching a hard subject. Adventurous, and it succeeds.
Walk Away: First time I listened to this one I was taken with the vocal, the second time the almost-orchestral backing, third time the lyrics. Then, finally, as a whole, everything put itself together in my head and I heard this lush, multi-layered vocal performance that stands pretty much at the top of the album.
Maybe: Love this one. Back to the theme of space, and how escape from our own shackles is possible. The lyric 'leaving your heart beating in fragile hands' says everything I can't find the words for.
Me Myself and (I): I love this song live. I don't think any recording could ever pick up the energy of this song performed live. It comes close though. My friend hates this, to me it's like crack: totally addictive, and completely gets me up and dancing. Like a cross between Prince and Jamiroquai, but taking the good parts of both and infusing them with something that is intrinsically Darren.
Lucky Town: This took a bit of getting used to. For a while the almost soft-reggae rhythm jarred me, but the chorus stuck in my head almost more than any other song.
I Just Want You To Love Me: To be honest, this is one of my least favourites. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I'm just not a massive fan of simple ballads. It's still pretty beautiful though.
Setting Sun: This is one of my favourite tracks. Very Manchester, a pulsating beat with a rocky vibe that I could just imagine playing in a crowded sweaty nightclub. Close my eyes and I'm there.
A Hundred Challenging Things A Boy Can Do: This song reminds me of I'm 49 by Paddy McAloon. I don't know if it's the radio samples, or the whistful narrative vocal, or the tales of lives lived, but it's one of those melancholy songs that always catches my heart.
Words: for me this is a lyrical treat. It's just too beautiful.
The Tuning of Violins: This is a fitting end to the CD. Evocative of a happy, peaceful home, of those secret, gorgeous times that you share with the one you love. This song is so joyful, and the strings give it an almost orchestral, theatrical quality... kind of like the end of a movie.

So overall, can you tell I like it? Seriously, it's not perfect, but who wants perfection? Where do you go from the perfect album? You don't, which is why I love this so much. It's flawed, and in that it's even more human and real.
I love this album. It's one of those that no matter what emotion you're feeling, there's something there for you. And that wouldn't be possible without its scope. Critics have said this could be a single CD, and yes it could. Take the twelve best tracks and put them on one CD and you've got a sensation. You'd also be missing so much though.
Thus, my opinion is this. I bloody love this album.

Guilty Pleasure music

sockospice — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:27:30 +0100

Busted's Crashed the Wedding. It's on the TV now and I admit I adored that song, it's tongue in cheek with a very cheeky video. Busted were highly underrated IMO. Not so much a fan of any of their solo stuff though.

Re-listening to Chris Cornell's first solo CD after a discussion on another board, Follow My Way is still one of my all time favourites.

Scissor Sisters

sockospice — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:00:48 +0100

Went to see Scissor Sisters last night. They were bloody good, although a few too many album tracks for my liking - a band like that, live, needs more uptempo tunes in a live performance.

Excellent show though.

today

sockospice — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 20:45:56 +0100

blah at itunes. blah at apple. I luffs my creative jukebox so I does, even though it's like 3 years old and a brick.

Want Rihanna's hair cut a la the 'Shut up and drive' video, but it won't suit me. Maybe I could go for a Kelis style mohawk. Still not sick of hearing Little Star.

Work was dumb as hell today. What is it with stupid people and trains? Or do people just become stupid when they get on a train? I don't know.

Still haven't done any neonbird crane thingys for that project on Darren's site. I'm soooooo bad.

Music telly

sockospice — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:11:26 +0100

Paris Hilton - the woman for whom the phrase 'what were you thinking' was made for. Or possibly 'were you thinking' in her case.

Gwen Stefani - Sweet Escape. Enough already!

Girls Aloud should be everyone's guilty pleasure.

Still on the fence with Mika (much like he is. Wonder if he's getting splinters like I am).

Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U is still one of the greatest videos ever made.

The Enrique ping pong song video is one of the most annoying in the world. Quite like the song though. Another guilty pleasure.

Maroon 5. Stop, please.

More music thoughts - also as seen at myspace

sockospice — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:48:35 +0100

Blah to you, Q

So I just picked up this months Q magazine (unfortunately didn't manage to swipe one from work this month) and oooooh, there's a review of This Delicate Thing. Here it is for your reading pleasure, and I shall rant afterwards

Over-Indulgence from Mr Savage Garden
he may have finally come out last year, but these remain tricky times for Darren Hayes, half of Savage Garden. After three edgy solo albums, he is without a major label. Not only has Hayes lost the big budgets his music warrants, hes also mislaid his quality control button, hence a double album that should have been a career-reigniting single affair. Me Myself and (i) and Step Into The Light bristle with invention but alas, the need to fill two CDs means too much stodge. Don't write him off yet, though.

Well it kind of is not too bad, but it's not what the CD deserves.

Although I haven't heard the whole 2 CDs yet, I feel qualified enough to say this. John Aizlewood and Q magazine, you are wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Although you are right about Me, Myself and I and Step Into The Light being bloody good songs, from the 30 second snippets and the stuff I've already heard, I'd say the other tracks are not 'stodge' and the quality definitely warrants a 2 CD release. But whatever. I can equally see why a journalist would suggest a single CD, I mean it's more commercially viable, and safer and less adventurous. All the things that embody what this CD is not.

Aside from the factual errors which I'm sure fans will recognise, I guess it's not that bad.
To be fair, they do recognise that Darren's very talented, and his music warrants a wider audience, but still they only gave the CD 2 stars. Which is wrong!!!!!!! (is that enough exclamation marks?)

Mind you, they only gave the new edition of Steve McQueen 4 stars, and that's the greatest album ever made. In their land of impossibly high standards I guess my music taste just doesn't cut it.

I used to rant regularly about how Q has gone downhill since Andrew Collins stopped editing it. blahblahblah and I get all tl;dr about how music journalism isn't what it used to be etc etc. Basically I think we should go back to 1997 when Radio 1 had Collins and Maconie's hit parade and David Quantick being very funny (favourite radio show ever, AND they got all adventurous with the music they played
None of that now with Radio 1s playlist of 3 songs)

In other news, there is a fantastic article about Jeff Buckley in this month's Mojo (along with an 80s book which is all kinds of fabulous).

I still can't decide if Shayne Ward's new song is a work of genius or the work of the devil.

Music thoughts - as seen at myspace

sockospice — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:46:25 +0100

Gwen Stefani's new song sounds like Paula Abdul's Rush Rush. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as I do have a soft spot for that period of Abduldom.Plus, Gwen is gorgeous. That soft curly thing she has going on with her hair is so much more flattering than the wannabee-super-kawaiii! look.

Robyn's With Every Heartbeat has a video that looks like Darren's would have if Darren had a budget of £50. I mean, she's a pretty girl, and they buy her clothes from Primark. To quote the Hurricane, 'whatsupwiththat?'

Darren Hayes, On the Verge of Something Wonderful. Both a song and a statement of truth. The video looks great, although it did take a while to grow on me. The song? I was playing it in the car and it sounded awesome. It needs to be on the radio like now.

Fergie, Big Girls Don't Cry now you know I'm gonna need to buy her CD, this is two songs now I've liked. Gorgeous little bit of acousticness going on there. And another one who is too bloody pretty for her own good. Best eyebrows ever.

Mika, Big Girls Patronising or empowering, I can't decide.

Love the boots Amerie's wearing in her video (can't stand the song). The ones with the corkscrew heels. Seriously hot.

My Chemical Romance, Teenagers It's entirely Roths fault that I love this. I shouldn't, because MCR are whiny emo whingers, but my god, the song's the sort of addictive teen anthem ten year old me would have loved. My eleven year old cousin is apparently emo. This si the greatest news ever.

This blog is the product of Sky's music channels. Blame them. Oh, and if anyone from the channel B4 should read, will you please stop playing fucking Joss Stone? Play Darren instead, his song is so much better, and he's more gorgeous (although Joss is looking pretty damn cool herself)