No Cool Name

I really like Fujiya & Miyagi.  It's only fitting that they have a cool video.

Show us a self-portrait.

I look like a little kid.

Who is your favorite video game character? 
Submitted by Korgoth.  

Hmm... probably Abe.

I've heard Oddworld has quit making games to focus on making movies instead. 

I don't have to tell you why I like this video, do I?

I haven't listened to the Notwist's Neon Golden in too long. 

I'll have to bring it tomorrow.

This might look familiar

I have a Twitter.

Cocteau Twins - An Elan

I can't say I like every song Cocteau Twins put out, especially in their Four Calendar Cafe and Milk and Kisses periods, some of which I can only enjoy as a begrudgingly forgiving fangirl, but last year, I bought Lullabies to Violaine and finally heard some b-sides from Milk and Kisses singles.   Some of the b-sides are better than songs that made it onto the album, but I can understand the omission as they didn't flow well with the other songs.

For example, "An Elan" wouldn't fit well between, say, "Rilkean Heart" and "Calfskin Smack."  The levels are hot, Robin's guitar exists primarily as a slowly-changing drone, and most of the song is carried by Liz singing vocals on several tracks.  But there's some interesting vocal layering and additive process at work here.  I especially like the scaling vocals that first show up at 1:04.   

It is a shame they broke up, not just because I got into them after they split and never got a chance to see them live or buy more records, but because there were a few songs out near the end of the band's career that had promise for new directions.  "Need-Fire," a song that appeared on, of all things, the Judge Dredd soundtrack stands out as a lost promise of what never came later.  Sadly, this song doesn't appear on Lullabies to Violaine. 

What the hell is Elizabeth Fraser up to these days?  Is she collaborating with anyone lately?  Some people have told me she's at work on a solo album, but I've been hearing that for over 9 years with no solid confirmations.    

I was actually rather sad upon my first listen to Lullabies to Violaine because I realized that I had finally heard every Cocteau Twins song ever made.  There is nothing more to look forward to, there is nothing more that will be new to me. 

Fujiya & Miyagi: In One Ear & Out The Other

Fujiya & Miyagi's Transparent Things is this week's working soundtrack.

Contrary to what the band name suggests, Fujiya & Miyagi are not Japanese.  And contrary to what their sound suggests, they're not German. 

The Twilight Sad: Walking For Two Hours

The Twilight Sad

We want a bright, cheery design on this postcard.

"Yeah, well, I don't feel bright and cheery today," I grumbled.  On my lunch break, still not-cheery and uninspired, I poked around on eMusic for something new to listen to.

The Twilight Sad, as the band name suggets, is neither bright nor cheery, but it is new, dramatic, and awesome.  Will I ever get enough shoegazy walls of sound?  I don't know.  Apparently, the answer at this juncture is no. 

On this track in particular, the barrage of ethereal guitar noise is broken up by the presence of a humble, earthly accordion.  Just from listening to this song, you know exactly how that hypothetical weird fan standing in the front row at the concert responds to this song, the chord changes that inspire him to point at the guitarist, even when he lifts his hands and then suddenly smashes down triumphant fists upon invisible foes before him. 

Some people have said that the singer's Scottish brogue is a bit of a challenge, if not an outright stumbling block, but I hate describing The Twilight Sad in terms of "Oh, he's got a Scottish accent, but it's still good."  I like his voice and I like his accent.  And on this song, I can't imagine a better voice to narrate this account of an angst-ridden teenage boy wandering aimlessly on foot on an overcast day. 

I'm still not inspired for that bright and cheery postcard, but I regret nothing. 

What's in a screen/user name? Tell us how you found yours.
Submitted by Bill.

I didn't find mine.  It just kind of followed me home. 

New Order: Cries and Whispers

New Order: Mesh

So I've been blowing off heavy layers of dust from my New Order cds and listening to them at work.  I haven't really listened to these since the mid-90s, thus I was able to neglect to replace Movement (an old break-up casualty).  I could have sworn I bought a new copy, but no.  Seriously, I can't believe I don't have Movement but I do have Peel Sessions and an old Factory EP. 

Anyhow, while listening to 1981-FEP 313-1982, I noticed one track called "Mesh" differed greatly from the track called "Mesh" on the second disc of Substance 1987.  Which one was the real "Mesh" and which was the impostor?

It turns out that the song I thought for years was "Mesh" is actually "Cries and Whispers," appearing as a b-side on the 12" for "Everything's Gone Green."  The actual song called "Mesh" is also included on the 12". 

So, I present the song most New Order fans thought was called "Mesh" and the song that New Order actually called "Mesh."  They're both good Movement-era songs, a llittle closer to Joy Division than the poppy stuff they put out much later.  (In my quest to rediscover New Order at work, I've notably left Technique and Republic at home because I don't know if I'd like either of those very much nowadays.  Republic was weak to begin with but with my forgiving fangirl status in wane, I don't know if I could stand listening to Barney Sumner rap.)