Archive for the ‘Pet Shop Boys’ Category

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Transgendered Cabin Boys, Religious Symbolism and Gay Dance Duos – Just Another Day in 80s Pop Music

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Seriously, the musical landscape of the 90s didn’t have shit on the randomness of the 80s.

Kate Bush
Alternative Hounds Of Love
The Handsome Cabin Boy
I’m going to level with you,I don’t know what’s so “alternative” about this mix of “Hounds Of Love’ aside from the fact that it’s about 50 seconds longer than the original album version. It has the “do-we-do-do do-we-da-da” and those awesome drums still, so it still kicks ass.

The real star here is the B-side, “The Handsome Cabin Boy.” I had never heard of this tune before, but after some quick online research, I’m now absolutely fascinated by it. This is a traditional folk song…about a woman who tries to pass as a man on a ship, only to have an affair with the captain and his wife (and possibly some of the crew as well) before she ends up pregnant. Bisexuality, transgender issues and the prevalence of homosexuality on the seas! That’s a mighty progressive traditional folk song! Anyone out there now how old this tune is?

Bush’s treatment of the song is absolutely haunting, its nothing more than her voice and some very subtle synthesizers-as-chorus melodies. Its haunting, and it leaves the message and meaning of the song bare for your to take in. It was completely the right way to go. Any attempt at “mainstreaming” this song as a single would probably just make it come off as a joke in poor taste. Best to let the lyrics and the message speak for themselves.

Book Of Love 
Counting The Rosaries (Full Confession Mix)
Counting The Rosaries (Full Confession Dub)
Counting The Rosaries (Happiness & Love Mix)
Counting The Rosaries (Crying Angels Mix)
Sunny Day (Heal Your Positive Body Mix)
I rarely wish I was a religious person. Okay, scratch that, I almost never wish I was a religious person. The only times I do is when it could help my understand of pop culture with religious overtones. For example, I hear songs like this and am left with absolutely no clue as to what it is about due to my blissful ignorance. Anyone care to fill me in? Regardless of what this song is actually about, these remixes are pretty great. Best dance tune about…something religious(???) that I’ve heard all week.

Pet Shop Boys
Always On My Mind (12″ Verision Phil Harding Mix)
I somehow had this 12″ single in my “to record” bin for two years and never got around to it. Stupid me. Now that I have it recorded and filed, however, it brings my Pet Shop Boys singles collection to an even 40. I think that gives me an official ranking of “fabulous.”

Posted in B-sides, Book Of Love, Kate Bush, Pet Shop Boys, remixes | 7 Comments »

The Human League is Totally Awesome

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Don’t you want me OOOOOHooooooohOOOOOOOHooooooooooooh

Sorry.

Pet Shop Boys
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (Brother Brown’s Newt Mix) 
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (Attaboy Still Love You When We’re Sober Mix)
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (The T-Total Mix)
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (Brother Brown’s Newt Dub)
I bought this, along with three other Pet Shop Boys singles today. That brings my total PSB singles count to 40. Forty. Four-zero. That is a lot of fabulous. The only artist I have more singles of is Erasure, and possibly Madonna – I have to recount. One day I’m going to get all the singles from Erasure, the Pet Shop Boys and Madonna and I’m going to open the best gay bar ever. I’m sure that’ll help me get all the women.

I don’t have much to say about these mixes, probably because this isn’t one of my favorite PSB tracks. I like the stutter edit on the title lyric, but other than that, I find it pretty bland, kind of like a slightly more upbeat (musically, not lyrically) version of “Rent.” The T-Total mix has a great beat though and they’re all still worth a listen if you like the Boys.

The Human League
Don’t You Want Me (Snap 12″ Extended Remix)
Don’t You Want Me (Red Jerry 12″ Remix)
Okay, I need help here, is the “Snap” who created this rather amazing remix of “Don’t You Want Me” the same Snap who brought us “The Power?” Someone find this shit out, it’s important. If that is the case, then this remix is automatically 8 billion times better than it already is, and that’s saying something since as it stands now it’s pretty freaking radical. Equally bitchin’ is the Red Jerry mix. I actually know who that is though, he’s a DJ from the UK. Although I only know this because he inexplicably has a Wikipedia page. Yay for needless wiki pages! They make hasty midnight research oh so much easier.

I’m going to rock out to these mixes all night. Who the fuck needs sleep? I have awesome synthpop.

Moby
Everytime You Touch Me (John Blackford Remix)
“Everytime You Touch Me” is one of my top five 90s house tracks of all time. It’s one of the most energetic, upbeat and lovey-dovey dance tunes ever and it makes me happy everytime I hear it. At least, that was the case until I heard this crazy remix, which was actually the winning submission in a fan remix contest by Moby and Elektra back in the mid-90s. This mix is nothing like the original. It strips away all of the positive feelings and energy of the original and replaces them with minimal melodies and creepy as all fuck vocal samples, including this gem:

“I always had a suspicion that it might be supremely pleasurable to be humiliated by a beautiful woman. It was only now I realized what this could entail.”

Okay…um…ew. I’m going to have to listen to those “Don’t You Want Me” remixes about a billion more times just to get this creepfest out of my brain.

Don’t you want me OOOOOHooooooohOOOOOOOHooooooooooooh!!!!!!!

Damn that song is awesome.

Posted in Moby, Pet Shop Boys, remixes, The Human League | 4 Comments »

I’ll Bring the Dance Music, You Bring the Rainbows

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

More Madonna. More Pet Shop Boys. More Erasure.

Don’t worry, my next post will be less Castro.

Madonna
Beautiful Stranger (Calderone Club Mix)
Fact: This theme song to Austin Powers 2 is 192% better than any of the actual content in any Austin Powers film.

Don’t argue with me! I proved it with science.

Pet Shop Boys
New York City Boy (The Superchumbo Uptown Mix)
New York City Boy (The Almighty Definitive Mix)
New York City Boy (The Thuderpuss 2000 Club Mix)
If you collect enough remixes, (and I collect more than enough) you start to notice certain names keep popping up. In the 90s I knew the big names like Flood, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and so on, but as my collection of remixes extends into ludicrous numbers, I’m beginning to notice many more recurring names; such as Almighty and Thunderpuss. I have a remix of Erasure’s “Chains of Love” credited to Almighty, and a few Madonna tracks remixed by Thunderpuss, but who are these people?

Well, Almighty isn’t a person at all, they’re a company (complete with a garish website). According to their Discogs page, no one person can be linked to an Almighty remix, they are a nameless mass of remixers and producers whose sole intention is to increase the funkatude of any dance track they get their hands on. They’re kind of like the Illuminati I guess, but with beats.

Thunderpuss, on the other hand, are two people – specifically Chris Cox and Barry Harris. I can’t say I know much of either’s work, but I can say without question that Chris Cox, a skinny white boy from the US, is not related to electronic music legend Carl Cox, a big black dude from the UK.

As for Superchumbo? That’s a dude named Tom Stephan. If you want to know more about him I suggest you read his horrible Wikipedia page, which reads like a press release translated from a foreign language.

Erasure
A Little Respect (Remixed By Mark Saunders)
Oh L’Amour (Acoustic)
Walking In The Rain (37B Remix)
Since I’m already talking about remixers, Mark Saunders is a super-accomplished remixer, mixer and producer. He has a webpage, find out for yourself. Of course, as you already know, Erasure is fucking fabulous, you don’t need to go to their webpage to find that out.

The acoustic version of “Oh L’Amour” is haunting, while the remix of “Walking In The Rain” is…decidedly not. It’s more fabulous than haunting. But it’s so fabulous that its fabulousness may haunt your own fabulous dreams.

Fabulous.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Walking In The Rain” is a cover, the original is by The Ronettes.

Posted in Erasure, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, remixes | 4 Comments »

Pet Shop Fever

Monday, August 29th, 2011

San Francisco finds continue! Or is it rather obvious given tonight’s selection?

Pet Shop Boys
Before (Danny Tenaglia’s After Mix)
Before (Classic Paradise Mix)
Before (Joey Negro’s Hed Boys Mix)
Before (Joey Negro’s Hed Boys Before Dub)
Before (Danny Tenaglia’s Underground Mix)
Before (Danny Tenaglia’s Bonus Beats)
Before (Danny Tenaglia’s Twilo Dub)
Before (Danny Tenaglia’s Bonus Dub) 
I’ve been using Discogs for a while now to catalog my collection, something I deemed neccessary once I hit 1,000 records. It’s a pretty great site, the only downfall being when you find you have something that isn’t in their massive system. Thankfully if you stick to pop, dance and rock like I do, it’s not a problem you’ll come across that often.

My favorite thing about Discogs is that it allows you to discover stuff about your collection you might not realize. For example: I found out I own 35 Pet Shop Boys singles. Furthermore, I figured out that I own multiple versions of several singles; I have two different versions of “So Hard”, “New York City Boy”, and “Before”; and three different versions of “I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Anymore.” What’s more terrifying is that by using Discogs I found out about twice as many Pet Shops Boys singles that I don’t have (As well as this. Oh. My. God. It’s. So. Fabulous.).

I started using Discogs so I could look up my collection on my phone while record shopping, after I accidentally bought the same Erasure single four times in one month. It certainly came in handy during the San Francisco trip, because I would have never bought this CD single of “Before” without first checking to see if it was the version I already owned. It wasn’t, so I snagged it up. Good thing too, these mixes are excellent. Danny Tenaglia knows his shit. They’re long too, this is nearly an hour of “Before” goodness. Get ready for some disco dancing!

Madonna
Bad Girl (Extended Mix)
Fever (Extended 12″)
Fever (Shep’s Remedy Dub)
Fever (Murk Boys Miami Mix)
Fever (Murk Boys Deep South Mix)
Fever (Oscar G’s Dope Mix)
I love “Bad Girl.” It’s one of my favorite Madonna tracks. I even gushed about it in a previous post. So finding the 12″ single at Amoeba was a big deal for me. I was especially happy that I found the 12″ and not any of the CD singles too, since the 12″ is the only one that contains the extended mix. Sure, it’s not that different than the album cut, and it’s not even that extended (just a minute longer) but it gives me an excuse to post the song, and that makes me pretty damn happy. It also gives me a chance to post a link to the amazing video by David Fincher, which I suggest you all watch if you haven’t.

Of course, for many I’m burying the lead here, since the “Bad Girl” single comes with five remixes of the much bigger hit “Fever.” Meh. I like “Fever” a lot, don’t get me wrong, but there’s not much to that song in my opinion, no matter who is singing it. These remixes are good club mixes though, and if you like the track you should dig them.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I have 30 Madonna singles. No repeats, all unique releases. One day I will have the 12″ for all her singles. Oh yes. They will be mine.

Next post: More Madonna, more Pet Shop Boys. Maybe more of other stuff too.

Posted in Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, remixes | 11 Comments »

DnB Hip Hop and stuff (too tired for title)

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

My god am I having a shit week. Anyone else out there watch the Michael Jackson Memorial? Anyone else out there sob uncontrollably when Paris Jackson took the mic at the end? I didn’t…nope…not at all…I just had…um…allergies. Yeah, that’s it.

I was happy to see the response to my post about eMusic. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only person who noticed their bullshit. If you’re like me and used eMusic to pick up electronic music I recommend checking out BeatPort, they’ll a little pricier than eMusic but their selection is amazing, great sound quality too.

Not a lot to say about the music tonight, I got some good shit coming up either later this week or early next week, including more Michael Jackson. I know I said I wouldn’t post anymore but I just picked up some sweet 12” singles that must share. Until then enjoy some alternative hip-hop and gay synth-pop.

A Tribe Called Quest vs. AK1200 – Buggin‘ Out (One Too Many Joints Mix)
Boogie Down Productions vs. Mark Pritchard – Necessary (Mark Pritchard Mix)
Fu–Schnickens vs. Pimp Juice – Ring The Alarm (Pimp Juice’s Magic Mix)
Whodini vs. DJ Swingsett & J. Warrin – One Love (High Bias Mix)
These are from a 12” called Old School vs. New School Vol. 2. I have Volume 1 somewhere but it’s all scratched to hell. Maybe I’ll dig it out of my crates one day and try to re-record it. These are pretty bitchin‘ remixes, they take these old school rap songs and transform them into crazy drum and bass tracks. I particularly dig the remix of “Ring The Alarm.” On a related note, I frequently get asked to recommend good new drum and bass so I thought I’d give a shout out to the new compilation by Hospital Records Sick Music. Very diverse collection of some of the best that amazing label has to offer. Pick it up.

Pet Shop Boys
“Brits” Medley
This isn’t the actual medley that the Pet Shop Boys performed at the Brits, it’s a studio version of it. It was a bonus track for anyone who pre-ordered the iTunes version of the album. That’s 2x the exclusive and 2x the BS for those who don’t use that shitty service.

Jungle Brothers
Jungle Brother (Stereo MC’s Mix)
What “U” Waitin‘ “4”? (Jungle Fever Mix)
I’ll admit my ignorance and confess to my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to The Jungle Brothers, aside from the fact that they are totally awesome and that I need to buy Done By The Forces Of Nature sometime very soon. These are from a couple of 12”.

Posted in Drun and bass, Jungle Brothers, Pet Shop Boys, remixes | 8 Comments »

This is a Performance-Enhancing Blog

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Okay, this is important so pay attention. Live Nation and Ticketmaster want to merge. This is very bad news. Very bad indeed. Fuck it. Fuck it hard.

Harsh language? Maybe, but it’s appropriate. Live Nation and Ticketmaster fuck you already every time you’re forced to buy tickets through their outdated, over-priced and illegal business practices. Charges that make no sense, horrid customer service, unreliable websites and their own form of legalized scalping that holds the best tickets strictly to “resell” them at fuckingly absurd prices are all ruining live music. Fuck the customer, fuck the economy, fuck the future, they both want to make money now with no disregard to the long-term damages that it will cause. If you want to learn more about how Ticketmaster is evil and deserves to be raped in the fires of hell for all eternity read this amazing article by The Consumerist.

Since we are just people and people have no power in America there isn’t much we can do to stop this. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try. You need to get pissed off. Tell people about this, get them pissed off. Write to the FCC, your Congressman, whoever you can. Fuck this shit before it gets too far.

If that doesn’t work, visit Live Nation and Ticketmaster headquarters and start what I like to call Plan B.

Now let’s dance to 25 Pet Shop Boys songs.

Pet Shop Boys
Before (D.T.’s After Mix)
Before (Tenaglia’s Bonus Beats)
Before (Classic Paradise Mix – Love To Infinity)
Before (Tenaglia’s Bonus Dub)
Being Boring (Remix)
We All Feel Better In The Dark (After Hours Climax)
We All Feel Better In The Dark (Ambient)
DJ Culturemix
Music For Boys (Part 3)
Overture to Performance
Heart (Disco Mix)
Heart (Dance Mix)
I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (The Morales Remix)
I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (Dub Mix)
I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (Thee Maddkatt Courtship 80 Witness Mix)
I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (Thee Drum Drum Mix)
I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (Thee 2 Blak Ninja Mix)
I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing (Extended Nude Mix)
I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing (Club Mix)
I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing (Grand Ballroom Dub)
It’s Alright (Extended Version)
Love Comes Quickly (Shep Pettibone Mastermix)
Love Comes Quickly (Dub)
Love Comes Quickly (Stephen Hague Dance Mix)
That’s My Impression (Disco Mix)
So I was going to spread these out over the week. Five here, five there, maybe mix up some other stuff, keep it fresh and diverse. But I have to go out of town tomorrow so “fuck it” – here are 25 Pet Shop Boys remixes, B-sides and such. These are all from various 12” singles that I bought last month in a massive buying orgy of fabulous pop music. I have mental problems that manifest themselves in horribly upbeat dance music. Peace out till next week.

Posted in B-sides, Pet Shop Boys, remixes | 8 Comments »

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