August 2012
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Peanut Butter (Moon Boots Remix)
Alison Valentine
Alison Valentine, “Peanut Butter” (Moon Boots Remix)
Enjoy your Friday and this piece of blissed-out Balaerica. We’ll be back next week.
Classic Tracks: Pet Shop Boys, "It's A Sin" →
soundonsound.com
Protests against Catholicism have taken many forms, Martin Luther nailing his objections to the cathedral door, but the Pet Shop Boys chose to make theirs in disco…
Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant Talks About American Homophobia | Vanity Fair →
vanityfair.com
There’s a great song on Elysium called “Your Early Stuff,” which seems to repeat people’s criticisms about your band.
It’s things London taxi drivers have said. I live in London and I don’t drive, so I get a lot of taxis. Black cabs, as we call them. Every line in the song has been said to me by a taxi driver. “I suppose you’re more or less retired now?”—a taxi driver said that to me. It was a few years ago when Top of the Pops was still on. I said, “No, actually you’re driving me to the BBC to record Top of the Pops.”
Breakin (Justin Faust Remix)
Saint Pauli
Saint Pauli, “Breakin” (Justin Faust Remix)
We’re not sure if we like this, but we’ve listened to it five or six times today because it’s so very different from what Faust has done before.
2 Hearts (Final DJs Remix)
Jowie Schulner
Jowie Schulner, “2 Hearts” (Final DJs Mix)
The original was pretty enjoyable, but Final DJs do a nice bit of Moroderizing to it and turn out a hands-in-the-air disco epic.
Through With You
Ren Riz, “Through With You”
Perfect application of filters, funk and fun. A+++.
La Stereophonie (Francophilippe remix) [OUT NOW on Dirty Cat Records]
Buttheads
Buttheads, “La Stereophonie” (Francophilippe Remix)
We missed this when it came out a few months ago but hey, better late than never. That growly baseline is pretty tops.
Pink Matter (MANIK Skeleton Rework)
Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean, “Pink Matter” (MANIK Skeleton Rework)
Disassembling and reassembling a track made by the internet’s current R&B darling and turning it into a dubby, lush nu-disco track with deep house touches isn’t for the weak, but thankfully MANIK seems to have been doing some weights.
Live My Life (Robots With Rayguns Mix)
Far East Movement (featuring Justin Bieber)
Far East Movement, “Live My Life” (Robots With Rayguns Remix)
Dammit, Robots With Rayguns. Stop making bad songs good.
Wonderful Things
Shit Hot Soundsystem
Shit Hot SoundSystem, “Wonderful Things”
Some nice, lurching loops in this, building to a melodic bit that we can’t get out of our heads.
Falling In Love (Gazeebo's Red Hearts Edit)
Surface
Surface, “Falling In Love” (Gazeebo’s Red Hearts Edit)
Improving on a Tom Moulton/Shep Pettibone production is ballsy, but this is just luxurious enough to get by with it.
First Impressions of the new Pet Shop Boys album, Elysium.
1.
Elysium is immaculately produced. There is not a single “Well, that doesn’t sound quite right” moment on the entire thing and producer Andrew Dawson comports himself very well.
2.
It’s sequenced wonderfully. Every track transition feels like a pleasant surprise and it’s an album that feels like a whole. That’s something that not enough people are doing nowadays and it’s very much appreciated.
3.
The track “Your early stuff” is a fine companion to “Yesterday, when I was mad.” Fans will understand exactly what this means when they hear it.
4.
Every track sounds very different, in a good way. They cover a lot of bases while continuing to be Pet Shop Boys throughout. Elysium feels quite like the b-side collections Alternative and Format in that way.
5.
There is thankfully little guitar, and when it shows up, it’s used well (“Breathing space”). Despite our initial worries, this is not a Release-style “we have to make something terribly different so let’s put out a dull adult contemporary record” sort of thing at all.
6.
“Ego music” is a track we initially disliked (too blunt, production is showy) but we suspect it’ll be the one that we end up enjoying the most after a few more spins. Imagine “The sound of the atom splitting” and “Electricity” from Bilingual having a child that wags its finger constantly at the pop scene.
7.
“Hold on” is a big, wet kiss to the 1970s and the Los Angeles studio sound pioneered by producers like David Axelrod. Many of the band’s fans will despise it. Those people should be distrusted and shunned like the joyless muttonheads they are.
8.
Closer “Requieum in denim and leopardskin” is the best track on Elysium, a perhaps-deliberate silky disco throwback to an earlier sound for the duo that still manages to feel at home here with the warm orchestral sound.
9.
This is not Pet Shop Boys’ best album, but it may well prove to be something akin to Behaviour in its longevity. There are many ambitious songs and only the rare misstep.
10.
Disco Potential adjunct staffer Andy Khouri will absolutely hate it and there will have to be a discussion about how wrongheaded he is.
You can pre-order Elysium now directly through the Pet Shop Boys site. The limited edition (which we were not provided but have preordered) features a bonus disc of instrumentals, which is sure to be a nice thing. We’re sure all the usual digital outlets and the like will have the regular edition available.
Far Far Away (SaiR Remix)
Silenx
Silenx, “Far Far Away” (SaiR Remix)
Music to play while you’re in your spinner, looking for replicants.
Everything's Gonna Be Alright (Blue Satellite Remix)
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” (Blue Satellite Remix)
Apparently, there is a contest to remix Barry Manilow’s new single. (Yes, he’s still releasing records.) This is Blue Satellite’s entry for it and geez, we hope it wins — it definitely keeps the spirit of the original and adds a disco-pop polish that works well with his vocals.
