Album of the Day 7/4/11
Every day, our 1000 best albums of all time countdown continues all the way to #1. Monday’s album is #575:
Telephone – Dure Limite
Today we celebrate the birth of America with a French rock band. In their late 70s/early 80s heyday, Telephone were commonly known as the French Rolling Stones, but they were closer to the Boomtown Rats, especially by 1982 when they put out this eclectic mix of gritty riff-rock, snarling punkish broadsides and a small handful of artsy ballads. The former are well represented by the title track (“Hard Limit”), Serrez (Squeeze) and the funky, sarcastic Ça (C’est Vraiment Toi), which translates loosely as “Yeah, That’s You, All Right.” Bassist Corinne Marienneau takes over lead vocals on the sexy faux-jazz stripper groove of Le Chat, while frontman Jean-Louis Aubert brings a plaintive, brooding lyrical edge to Jour Contre Jour (Day After Day), Juste Un Autre Genre (Just Another Guy) and the slowly unwinding, Lou Reed-influenced Le Temps. The best tracks here are the scorching Ex-Robin des Bois (Ex-Robin Hood), a metaphorically-charged slam at a sellout traitor; the iconic Cendrillon (Cinderella), who goes from prom queen to dead junkie on the wings of Louis Bertignac’s gorgeously elegaic guitar; and the concluding, towering, angst-driven epic Ce Soir Est Ce Soir (Tonight’s the Night). In lieu of a torrent for this particular album, here’s one for all five of the band’s studio efforts: the first two are hit-and-miss, but everything else afterward is worth a spin, even if you don’t speak French.
Top Ten Songs of the Week 8/31/09
We do this every Tuesday (usually – remember a couple of weeks ago?). You’ll see this week’s #1 song on our Best 100 songs of 2009 list at the end of December, along with maybe some of the rest of these too. This is strictly for fun – it’s Lucid Culture’s tribute to Kasey Kasem and a way to spread the word about some of the great music out there that’s too edgy for the corporate media and their imitators in the blogosphere. Pretty much every link here will take you to each individual song.
1. The Oxygen Ponies – Villains
Quiet yet venomous rock anthem dating from the waning days of the Bush regime. From their amazing new cd Harmony Handgrenade.
2. Christabel & the Jons – Florida
Dark, quirky, fun oldtimey swing tune in the Jolie Holland mode. They’re at the Jalopy Theatre on 10/1.
3. Taxi Amarillo – Donde Has Estando
Jangly rock en Espanol anthem. They’re at BB King’s on 9/7
4. Kofre – El Muerto
Ska en Espanol. Also at BB King’s on 9/7.
5. The Scratches – I Take the Shape of My Container
BOAC style pop – funny.
6. Mark Sinnis – That’s Why I Won’t Love You
Quietly snarling, gospel-flavored kissoff anthem recorded live at Pete’s. From his forthcoming 2010 cd.
7. Ninth House – Jealousy
Speaking of which…this is the album version with Randi Russo on harmonies. This is a psychedelic live version.
8. Kerry Kennedy – Golden Calves
Beautiful as-yet unreleased atmospherics from the NYC southwestern gothic chanteuse. She’s at Small Beast at the Delancey on 9/14.
9. Telephone – In Paris
A funny anti-tourist rant, in English, by the iconic punk-era French rockers. “In Paris we piss in the street.”
10. Smoothe Moose – War Pigs (remix)
Woozy electronicized cover, you can’t help but smile. Various members of the Tortoise-esque collective play the release show for their latest mixtape at Public Assembly on 9/3 at 9.
Song of the Day 7/1/09
Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Wednesday’s song is #392;
Telephone – Cendrillon
The title is French for “Cinderella.” This uncharacteristically quiet ballad from the 1982 Dure Limite lp was a huge hit for the French rockers, electric piano glimmering evilly behind Louis Bertignac’s elegaic lead guitar as frontman Jean-Louis Aubert matter-of-factly narrates her descent into drug abuse and death in the back of an ambulance. The link in the title above is the album version; here’s a tasty live take.
Lucid Culture 