Sunday Night Cinema: Jesus Christ Superstar, David Bowie, Louise Quinn & Kid Loco

Heaven On Their Minds:
For Easter, rock opera classic featuring the snappiest of jumpsuits. There is nothing not to love. 


The Stars Are Out Tonight:
With David Bowie, Tilda Swinton and Andre Pejić all in one place, the song doesn't even need to be good. But it is, of course.



Oh Jackie:This collaboration between Louise Quinn (of A Band Called Quinn) and Kid Loco was up for the Scottish Short Film Award at last month's Glasgow Short Film Festival.

Today's Swell Tune: Weight

• Artist: Mikal Cronin
• Album: MCII (Release date: 7.5.2013)
• From: San Francisco, California, United States
• Sound: A shitty morning on a beautiful day; garage, rock.
• Social: bandcamp, soundcloud, twitter

Saturday Night Remix: Winter Is All Over You

into:

Today's Swell Tune: Closer

• Band: Chic Gamine
• Album: Closer 
• From: Winnipeg, Manitoba/ Montreal, Quebec Canada
• Sound: Somewhere, Berry Gordy is getting a boner; soul, pop, R&B.
• Website: chicgamine.com
• Social: facebook, twitter, YouTube
• Buy It: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chicgamine3

Friday's Forgotten Song: Daylight*

Aesop Rock
Album: Definitive Jux 

2002 

*For the argumentative emailers, I get that you didn't forget 

this song. Neither did I. The Friday feature is just for great  
tracks that are more than a decade old.  Yeah: this song is 
more than a decade old.

The Veruca Valium Vortex: The Hot Toddies' Bottoms Up

I've always had a thing for hazy, garage-style girl groups. The love hatched in the still fledgling years of my musical development: I remember staring longingly at a Veruca Salt album wishing I had the $25 (in 90s Money!) to buy the CD.*  Now music is cheap and easy to get, and I'm all grown up and can have as much as I want. But I'll never forget the ache for that American Thighs album and all the cool I thought it would bring into my life, and I still covet the discovery of those grungy girl bands. Thing is, my angst has waned; he early teens is not the early nineties, and Jimmy Stepchuk is not flirting with my prettier, cooler best friend anymore, so I can afford to lighten up.

That's why I fucking love this EP.

Taken as a whole, this is what it would sound like if Veruca Salt circa American Thighs travelled back in time to 1965, moved to California, popped some pick-me-ups, and cut an album to send  to us, here, in the future. Which, y'know, is probably totally what happened. Science.

The only thing The Hot Toddies did wrong was not make it a full LP.

But I have all five tracks below, for your streaming pleasure. Or buy it.

*Okay, fine: tape.

Today's Swell Tune: The Way We Fall

• Artist: Alela Diane
• Album: About Farewell 
• From: Portland, Oregon, USA
• Sound: The way she sings "You never know when it's the last time/
  I didn't know it was the last time," you're going to feel it; folk, pop.
• Website: aleladiane.com
• Social: facebook, twitter

Boss Stuff on the Interwebs: Wednesday Links 27/03/13

Jane Birkin digs vinyl.

• A New Band A Day did SXSW, talks blogging and freebies. Because they were there. At SXSW. And I wasn't. There. Hmph.
• What's Protocol also has a rundown of SXSW, from 2/3 Goat's POV, because they were there too, and sometimes you just can't make all the shows life is unfair I hate you I'll be in my room. Doorslam.
• Torres' Torres gets a 9/10 from Little Reviews. Great taste, over there, so even if you can't read French, just click play and know that everything's gonna work out fine.
• The Stigma of Synth: My Secret Life with Depeche Mode is an amazing essay. One of my favourite music essays, ever. It's an old piece, but with the new album out, I'd say relevant. PopMatters
• Meanwhile, Color Theory reviews the new album. Succinct and for the devotee.
•  guerolitomusic has an exclusive: the new single Sink, from Inspired and the Sleep. Sweet and crunchy like Corn Pops that don't cut your gums.
• A weekly oldies playlist is starting up. I like oldies. I like playlists. And I like awesome, rambling blog names. So it goes at Mel's Internet Universe Music Blog.
• Speaking of playlists: casamonita has days of boss playlists for you. Days. l have accepted her in my heart as my personal DJ, this week.

Today's Swell Tune: Stand All Night

• Artist: Jil Is Lucky
• Album: In the Tiger's Bed
• From: Paris, France
• Sound: Remember when he did gypsy better than the gypsies do it? This is the 80's better than the 80's did it; alternative pop-rock, indie.
• Website: jilislucky.com
• Video: Here.
• Social: facebook, twitter, YouTube
• Buy: itunes

R.I.P. Scott Hardkiss

Earlier today, DJ and producer Scott Hardkiss passed away unexpectedly, at the age of 43. He had reportedly suffered an aneurysm.

Born Scott Friedel, the early 90's saw him forming the influential Hardkiss with "brothers" Gavin and Robbie. They would lead the way in the west coast/ Bay Area's developing electronica scene with their acid house/trance/psychedelia sounds and legendary warehouse parties, key to the development of the 90's rave scene. He also worked under the moniker God Within, defining an era with 1993's Raincry. 

In the late 90's Hardkiss moved to Brooklyn, where he continued DJing and producing under the name Scott Hardkiss (official site), also working the musical end of film and television projects from the likes of Spike Lee and Wes Anderson. In 2009, he would finally release his well-received debut solo album, Technicolor Dreamer.  I'm most a fan of his countless remixes for artists that include The Flaming Lips and George Clinton.

Goodbye to a musician whose distinct hand effortlessly blurred the lines between what's hip and what's beautiful. Rest assured, he's remixing the tired afterlife into a better place.

Today's Swell Tune: Latter Days

• Band: French Films
• Album: White Orchid (Release date: 5.4.2013)
• From: Espoo/Järvenpää, Finland
• Sound: I described them years ago as "Joy Division as cast by John Hughes". I stand by that; post-punk.
• Social: facebook, soundcloud, twitter, vimeo, YouTube

Monday Morning Cover: Knock on Wood

David Bowie:

The Original:

Eddie Floyd:

Today's Swell Tune: Reset/Restore

• Band: We Were Not the Savages
• EP: We Were Not the Savages
• From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Sound: Everyone uses synth in their rock now, but this one actually uses it for good; rock, synth-punk (is that a thing?)
• Buy it: bandcamp (name your price)
• Facebook: facebook

Saturday Night Remix: 2020

YouTube, fuckers.

into:

Today's Swell Tune: Cuckoo

 

• Artist: Rose and the Howling North
• Album: Cuckoo
• From: Leeds, England
• Sound: Nancy Sinatra scoring Tarantino credits.
• Website: Cuckoo Records
• Social: twitter, myspace

Friday's Forgotten Song: Chick Habit

April March
Album: Paris in April

1995 

Today's Swell Tune: Better Things

• Band: Young Rival
• Album: Stay Young
• From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Sound: The Animals. But louder. And Johnny Cash is in the room, for some (awesome) reason.
• Website: http://www.youngrival.com/
• Facebook: facebook