Trawling For Gems At The Back Of the Sofa...
It's been a while since we had a really big delve down the back of the ChartBlog song sofa, to try and unearth some of the songs which, in a parallel universe, would still probably not be massive chart hits, but at least the wallpaper would be different.
Anyway, I've had a rummage, and what I've found includes a former trip-hopper, a French arsonist, some kind of ADD drum club, a man who has the surname of two girls, and the musical version of a nerd stroking a friend of MIA's...in scuzzy trainers.
Leon Jean Marie - 'Bring It On'
The drummer is playing 'Billie Jean', the guitars and synths are having a crack at 'You Really Got Me', or 'All Day And All Of The Night' by the Kinks, and Leon himself is singing 'Abracadabra' by the Steve Miller Band, and that's just the verses. There's also a massive dollop of Sam Sparro dark funk dripping from every semibreve, and you know what? GOOD!
Anyway, it's got handclaps in, and a guiro (that wooden fish you scrape in music classes), and as we know, handclaps (and guiros) make even the dullest song better. And this isn't a dull song.
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Ladyhawke - 'Paris Is Burning'
Special point of notice: The verses sound like 'Cars' by Gary Numan. You know, the doomy synthpopper that the Mighty Boosh are always going on about. Meanwhile, the choruses do not. Despite this, and their fiery subject matter, they are fine things indeed. Somewhere there is a band called Buzzardman, or Falcongente, who are FURIOUS that this lady is going to be famous and leave them looking like a cash-in. And if there is, they should up their game or change their name, and pronto.
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SugaRush Beat Company - 'L-O-V-E'
Busy name, crazy guys, funky song, cartoony video. It's not so much incredible as The Incredibles (is the pixellated performer here Fro-Zone's younger brother or what?), but in these Duffy-addled times, a brief dip in some smooth soul is always welcome.
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Tricky - 'Council Estate'
Yes, it's the bloke who used to be in Massive Attack and then went solo, and then went weird, and then disappeared in a wheezy puff of asthma inhaler smoke. No, he possibly won't go Top 10 with this, and no, it doesn't matter.
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N*E*R*D ft. Julian Casablancas & Santogold - 'My Drive Thru'
Hey, when did N*E*R*D stop being a disappointment and start getting good again? Has someone replaced my taste glands in my sleep? That can't be a fun job. I should have left money or a tiny cake or something.
This is a hard song to write about in one sense, as it's a free download from the website of Converse trainers (they're not the only people out there who make 'em, as I'm sure you know), and the whole song was put together in order to celebrate their centenery (that's 100 years since the first pair, which must stink something rotten by now), so it's just an advertising gimmick, and not, like REAL ART or something. And I can't really talk about the official new N*E*R*D song either, cos it's possibly about taking drugs, in a really unsubtle way. So, just at the point at which they've finally decided to be good and not bad any more, the 91Èȱ¬ Values Man inside me is wagging a stern finger in my direction as I type. Well y'know what? Stuff him. This is ACE!
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Comment number 1.
At 27th Jun 2008, -RachelS- wrote:'Paris Is Burning'? This could be the start of a series...
'Bournemouth Is Dozing'...
'Newcastle Is Gleaming'...
'Ipswich Is Feeling Slightly Under The Weather...'
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